It's hard for me to imagine that there are people out there who have never seen or heard "Les Misérables". The musical has been playing somewhere in the world for decades. It holds a huge place in my history of musical theatre.
The first musical I ever saw was, strangely enough, "Cats", another long-running musical. My parents took me to see it when I was pretty young, maybe 8 or 9 years old. Let's just say, I didn't understand all of it, but it got me started. I went to see it again later as an adult and the people I went with thought it was the craziest thing they'd ever seen. As much as I'd agree that it has the feel of an acid trip (not that I've ever been on one), I kind of found that I understood it better the second time.
Les Miz was introduced to me when I was 12. We spent the entire school year learning the story, singing it in four-part harmony in choir, and then finally seeing it at the theatre. To this day, I still remember the words to almost all of the songs, not to mention the two-part harmony for "Castle on a Cloud", which you never hear in the musical because Cosette sings it solo.
When they announced that they were making a huge film version, I can't tell you how excited I was. This was going to be epic, which means only one thing: you were going to absolutely love it or absolutely hate it. Today, on opening day, I went to see it with a friend from middle school who experienced Les Miz with me. When it was over, I found myself in the category of absolutely loving it.
It's a depressing story, to be sure. But it's not a surprise. I mean, couldn't you guess that from the title? And anyway, just because it's a sad story doesn't mean it's not awesome. Romeo and Juliet, Ghost, Titanic - you know how these stories end before they begin. But the ending is not the point.
Anyway, back to the film. I'm surprised to say that I liked Russell Crowe's singing more than Hugh Jackman's. Anne Hathaway deserves all of the praise she's being given. And as for Amanda Seyfried, I swear I kept thinking to myself that this girl is not going to be able to hit that note, and then she does. She's a crazy soprano, but I kind of knew that from "Mamma Mia". (Actually, my favourite song of hers from that musical was during the credits, when she sings "Thank You for the Music")
I've seen countless different musicals, both on stage (Phantom (we don't need to use the whole title), The Sound of Music, Oklahoma!, Wicked, Billy Elliot, Chicago, etc.) and screen (Rent, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, My Fair Lady, to name a few). Les Miz is still my favourite.
I have two tips for you if you're going to see the film:
1) Don't drink anything (unless you're willing to miss part of the film for a bathroom break)
2) Don't sit too close (everyone gets an extreme close-up)
"When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums..."
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
A White-ish Christmas
I left my parents' house late last night and then had to stop for gas. As I was filling up, it was around midnight, and it started to snow. It was a beautiful, magical kind of feeling.
I woke up this morning and looked outside. Enough snow had accumulated to cover the grass with a light dusting. For the first time in a long time, we had a white Christmas.
Okay, a white-ish Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
"Just like the ones I used to know"
I woke up this morning and looked outside. Enough snow had accumulated to cover the grass with a light dusting. For the first time in a long time, we had a white Christmas.
Okay, a white-ish Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
"Just like the ones I used to know"
Monday, October 29, 2012
We Never Learn
I've spent the day looking at photos from the US eastern seaboard as Hurricane Sandy, or whatever she's called now, slammed into it. Waist-high water, construction cranes snapping in mid-air, structures being washed out to sea, power outages to thousands if not millions of people, etc. And of course, what do I think of but "The Day After Tomorrow". It's one of those movies that I'll watch over and over again, whenever it's on TV. I'm not saying that I think these events are definitely going to happen. But the things that Dennis Quaid's character are saying are completely plausible to me. Despite having no background in meteorology, the physics of it makes sense.
I don't know about you, but to me, the images of New York and New Jersey that are being shown to the world today look incredibly similar to the ones in the movie. And yet I still hear people saying that they're making too big a deal about it, that the authorities over-reacting. So, just like in the movie, we probably won't learn until it's too late.
Jules Verne wrote "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "From the Earth to the Moon" almost a hundred years before there were submarines and space shuttles. It's not inconceivable that someone who wrote a movie screenplay could possibly be seeing into the future.
So now maybe we'll actually need to be on the lookout for the zombie apocalypse. Or, more likely, killer robots. My boss is currently at a trade show, looking for equipment that could improve the efficiency of our packaging lines. That includes robots. I'm okay with them as long as they're not doing any independent thinking. For god's sake, did we learn nothing from Arnold??
"It's the end of the world as we know it"
I don't know about you, but to me, the images of New York and New Jersey that are being shown to the world today look incredibly similar to the ones in the movie. And yet I still hear people saying that they're making too big a deal about it, that the authorities over-reacting. So, just like in the movie, we probably won't learn until it's too late.
Jules Verne wrote "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "From the Earth to the Moon" almost a hundred years before there were submarines and space shuttles. It's not inconceivable that someone who wrote a movie screenplay could possibly be seeing into the future.
So now maybe we'll actually need to be on the lookout for the zombie apocalypse. Or, more likely, killer robots. My boss is currently at a trade show, looking for equipment that could improve the efficiency of our packaging lines. That includes robots. I'm okay with them as long as they're not doing any independent thinking. For god's sake, did we learn nothing from Arnold??
"It's the end of the world as we know it"
Monday, October 22, 2012
Until the Sun Comes Up...
...over Santa Monica Boulevard.
I'm home from the mini jaunt to the West Coast. Definitely a much needed break in the action. The wedding itself was kind of funny. It's been a really long time since I've been to a straight-up Chinese wedding banquet. No long speeches, no kissing games (although that didn't stop my mother from clinking on the dishes), no slideshows, nothing. Just a lot of photo ops with the newlyweds, which in this case included my ridiculous cousin putting on an old school Chinese zombie outfit because he wanted to look as "traditional" as his wife in the red dress. I could hear the wait staff chuckling to themselves and saying that they've never seen anything like it.
We ate our ten courses, which didn't fill me up as it normally did. We toasted the bride and groom when they came to our table (memories of our other cousin's wedding from a couple of years ago), and then that was it, and we all went home by 10 pm. Quick, easy, and even left us some time to play some Rock Band.
The next day, we had some really good dim sum, and then went to Santa Monica (via a wrong turn through downtown LA). Walking along the pier, it was a fantastic day. We went down to the beach, walked barefoot through the sand, and I stood in the Pacific (it was cold). It was all very surreal. While we were taking in the awesomeness, my cousin's friend was busy looking for geocaches, which I had heard of but never really got into. I guess it has to do with the fact that I still have an idiot phone. We actually found a couple, and I thought it was kind of hilarious that they were trying to be nonchalant when they found the geocache and when they were subtly putting it back after writing their names on the log. If you're not already doing this and you have an interest in treasure hunting, it seems like a really cool past time. Apparently, there are geocaches on every continent, and on the International Space Station (good luck with that one).
The next day we said goodbye to my cousin, who had to run to work having used up all of his vacation days, and we hung out at my aunt's house until it was time to go to the airport. Another jaunt through the world was over. Here's my favourite photo:
I'm home from the mini jaunt to the West Coast. Definitely a much needed break in the action. The wedding itself was kind of funny. It's been a really long time since I've been to a straight-up Chinese wedding banquet. No long speeches, no kissing games (although that didn't stop my mother from clinking on the dishes), no slideshows, nothing. Just a lot of photo ops with the newlyweds, which in this case included my ridiculous cousin putting on an old school Chinese zombie outfit because he wanted to look as "traditional" as his wife in the red dress. I could hear the wait staff chuckling to themselves and saying that they've never seen anything like it.
We ate our ten courses, which didn't fill me up as it normally did. We toasted the bride and groom when they came to our table (memories of our other cousin's wedding from a couple of years ago), and then that was it, and we all went home by 10 pm. Quick, easy, and even left us some time to play some Rock Band.
The next day, we had some really good dim sum, and then went to Santa Monica (via a wrong turn through downtown LA). Walking along the pier, it was a fantastic day. We went down to the beach, walked barefoot through the sand, and I stood in the Pacific (it was cold). It was all very surreal. While we were taking in the awesomeness, my cousin's friend was busy looking for geocaches, which I had heard of but never really got into. I guess it has to do with the fact that I still have an idiot phone. We actually found a couple, and I thought it was kind of hilarious that they were trying to be nonchalant when they found the geocache and when they were subtly putting it back after writing their names on the log. If you're not already doing this and you have an interest in treasure hunting, it seems like a really cool past time. Apparently, there are geocaches on every continent, and on the International Space Station (good luck with that one).
The next day we said goodbye to my cousin, who had to run to work having used up all of his vacation days, and we hung out at my aunt's house until it was time to go to the airport. Another jaunt through the world was over. Here's my favourite photo:
"I am still living with your ghost, lonely and dreaming of the west coast"
Saturday, October 20, 2012
This Ain't No Disco, It Ain't No Country Club Either...
...This is L.A.
Yet another adventure out in the world. I know you're asking yourself, so soon?! Before you get too jealous, this time it's a quick trip out to the west coast for my cousin Clement's wedding. And so it's a total family affair, with my parents, both of my brothers and other assorted relations. I'm usually not particular about warm weather places. As you know, I like the cold. But in this case, I've been repeating "It's 27 degrees in L.A." to myself all week.
We landed pretty late last night, plus the flight was rough for me. The fun began today when we went to the county courthouse to witness the civil ceremony. I'd never attended one before, so it was definitely...different. Afterwards we went for dim sum with the family and then headed back to my aunt's house. My brothers and I lounged outside on the patio and mostly fell asleep. We noticed that instead of squirrels roaming around the yards, it's lizards.
We went out with Clement and his friends for dinner. Quite by accident, we did something that I had secretly been hoping to do: we went to a congregation of local food trucks. They gather every Friday night. Pulling in, it was amusing to see how many people were tailgating. There were at least a dozen trucks parked in two rows, and while they all looked pretty good, I had instantly made up my mind the second I saw The Lime Truck. I watch the Food Network almost daily, and not only were they the winners of The Great Food Truck Race, but they were also featured on Eat St. I had the lamb sandwich with a limeade and shared the carnitas fries with my brothers. Messy but very delicious.
Day One has been fun so far. Tomorrow's the big party.
"All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die"
We went out with Clement and his friends for dinner. Quite by accident, we did something that I had secretly been hoping to do: we went to a congregation of local food trucks. They gather every Friday night. Pulling in, it was amusing to see how many people were tailgating. There were at least a dozen trucks parked in two rows, and while they all looked pretty good, I had instantly made up my mind the second I saw The Lime Truck. I watch the Food Network almost daily, and not only were they the winners of The Great Food Truck Race, but they were also featured on Eat St. I had the lamb sandwich with a limeade and shared the carnitas fries with my brothers. Messy but very delicious.
Day One has been fun so far. Tomorrow's the big party.
"All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die"
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
TIFF 2012: Not a Brief Summary
There's no way I can do a daily update of this year's festival. Because I was in the UK for a couple of weeks, I missed out on about 5 orientation sessions, which meant that I was behind a thousand people in terms of shift sign-ups. I managed to get shifts that worked with my schedule, but between that and the films I wanted to see, it turned out that I would be downtown every day from the 7th until the 15th. So, here we go:
Friday September 7
Hurried downtown after work to get in the rush line for Sarah Polley's documentary "Stories We Tell". Was able to get in but missed a little bit of the beginning. One word: fabulous. The most incredible thing about it is that it's a documentary about her own family. Mostly hilarious and features reenactments by actors who look incredibly similar to the real people they're portraying in a younger state.
Missed out on the food truck scene at Bloor Hot Docs to get to the Elgin to rush for "Ginger and Rosa". A lot of American actors were used to depict Brits in the 1950s, but it was hard to tell since the accents were spot on. Elle Fanning was amazing in the film but still has an undeveloped fashion sense.
Saturday September 8
Only one major thing happened during my volunteer shift: had to hold back the hoards of rabid Johnny Depp fans at the premiere of "West of Memphis". He really needs to get out more.
Sunday September 9
Went to the box office at 7am to see if there were any new tickets released. Unfortunately, the answer was no. So I sat in rush line at the Isabel Bader for about 3 hours. Then karma decided to cut me a break. The volunteer captain, with whom I had worked a number of shifts in the past, came over and said, "You're in the wrong line". I slowly worked my way up to a standing position and followed him to the ticket holders line, where he discreetly slipped me a free ticket. As I left the rush line, one of the girls at the front said out loud, "How long has she been sitting here?" Yeah, because I'm an idiot.
"Much Ado About Nothing" was my favourite film of the fest. SO good. The best part was that Joss Whedon was there, along with most of the cast (plucked from the Buffyverse), for the Q&A session. Nathan Fillion wasn't there, but I knew that, since a good friend of mine had gotten a job as a driver for TIFF and tipped me off that he was driving him to the airport that morning. Meanwhile, found out that the whole film was shot at Joss's own house (REALLY nice house!), and was done sometime between the editing sessions for "The Avengers", much to the chagrin of the producers of said film.
This was one Q&A I couldn't leave, and as a result I didn't make it to the Cineplex at Yonge & Dundas in time to rush "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". I guess I'll have to catch it when it comes out commercially. However, it gave me time to nap in the backseat of my car (not comfy) before my 8pm shift at the Ryerson. Caught a glimpse of Saoirse Ronin and Gemma Arterton on the red carpet before their film "Byzantium".
Got home at around 1am.
Monday September 10
Called in sick. The cold I had been in denial about for the past week was becoming an actual issue. Also the lack of sleep from the past three days had finally taken its toll. I was still able to drag my butt out of bed around 11am to do the general household chores that I couldn't have done otherwise if I had stuck to my schedule (dishes, laundry, etc.).
Went to Scotiabank Theatre in the evening to see "London - The Modern Babylon". Cool archival footage and a great soundtrack, but essentially it could have been called "London - Rioting Through the Decades". There was pretty much at least one riot every 10 years for the past century. The funny thing was that every riot looked the same: people throwing rocks, bobbies clubbing people, things on fire or exploding, horses running through the crowds. And although the reasons were vaguely different, the source was the same. Civil unrest is civil unrest.
Tuesday September 11
Stood in the rush line at Roy Thomson to see "Great Expectations". Ended up trading someone a voucher for an orchestra level seat. All the main stars except for Helena Bonham Carter were there. Really liked that it was a proper British period piece (none of that Ethan Hawke/Gwyneth Paltrow nonsense), but I swear, South Park has completely ruined this for me. I kept waiting for the Genesis device.
Wednesday September 12
Took the day off for a day of festing and volunteering. Saw "Still", which was a cute film about an older couple where the wife was beginning to exhibit Alzheimer's symptoms and the husband decides to build her a new house despite not being able to meet the municipal building codes. Based on a true story from New Brunswick.
"Three Sisters" was a long (3 hour) documentary about three little girls living in the mountains in China, mostly on their own. There was no background story, no interviews, no overdubbing. It was okay at first but watching them eat noodles for 10 minutes started to get to me. It could have been worse. The director's first documentary was 10 hours long.
They were showing "The Suicide Shop" during my Ryerson shift, which sounds kind of like a film I'd want to see: a 3D animated film about a family that owns a shop that sells items you can use to kill yourself, but unfortunately one of their sons is abnormally cheerful, optimistic and life-loving. Midnight Madness was "The Bay", a Barry Levinson film about parasites.
Thursday September 13
Got to my box office shift but won the draw to go home right away. Best shift ever.
Friday September 14
Last Ryerson shift. Held the green room door open for Jared Leto, who currently looks like a hillbilly. Did the link up at the back door afterwards, where he came out and intelligently asked the waiting fans to vote for his film "Artifact" for the People's Choice award. Maybe that's why it won.
For "The ABCs of Death", the programmer wanted volunteers to come out on stage during the introduction to "creatively represent" the directors who didn't make it to the screening (out of the 26 directors, I think maybe 12 showed up). I stayed outside and held the fort.
Saturday September 15
Made my way downtown in the early morn to see "Middle of Nowhere". A good film about how a wife copes with her husband in prison. Rushed to see "Clandestine Childhood", a film recommended by another volunteer. Really great Argentinian film about a boy whose parents were resistance fighters in the '70s and how he had to adopt a different name and hide his background from the other kids at school.
Last volunteer shift at the box office was another shortened stint. Awesome.
That was it for me. The next day was my friend's wedding, so I skipped out on the last day of screenings. A non-stop, tiring fest this time, but as always full of close encounters and some good films.
"We don't even have to try, it's always a good time"
Friday September 7
Hurried downtown after work to get in the rush line for Sarah Polley's documentary "Stories We Tell". Was able to get in but missed a little bit of the beginning. One word: fabulous. The most incredible thing about it is that it's a documentary about her own family. Mostly hilarious and features reenactments by actors who look incredibly similar to the real people they're portraying in a younger state.
Missed out on the food truck scene at Bloor Hot Docs to get to the Elgin to rush for "Ginger and Rosa". A lot of American actors were used to depict Brits in the 1950s, but it was hard to tell since the accents were spot on. Elle Fanning was amazing in the film but still has an undeveloped fashion sense.
Saturday September 8
Only one major thing happened during my volunteer shift: had to hold back the hoards of rabid Johnny Depp fans at the premiere of "West of Memphis". He really needs to get out more.
Sunday September 9
Went to the box office at 7am to see if there were any new tickets released. Unfortunately, the answer was no. So I sat in rush line at the Isabel Bader for about 3 hours. Then karma decided to cut me a break. The volunteer captain, with whom I had worked a number of shifts in the past, came over and said, "You're in the wrong line". I slowly worked my way up to a standing position and followed him to the ticket holders line, where he discreetly slipped me a free ticket. As I left the rush line, one of the girls at the front said out loud, "How long has she been sitting here?" Yeah, because I'm an idiot.
"Much Ado About Nothing" was my favourite film of the fest. SO good. The best part was that Joss Whedon was there, along with most of the cast (plucked from the Buffyverse), for the Q&A session. Nathan Fillion wasn't there, but I knew that, since a good friend of mine had gotten a job as a driver for TIFF and tipped me off that he was driving him to the airport that morning. Meanwhile, found out that the whole film was shot at Joss's own house (REALLY nice house!), and was done sometime between the editing sessions for "The Avengers", much to the chagrin of the producers of said film.
This was one Q&A I couldn't leave, and as a result I didn't make it to the Cineplex at Yonge & Dundas in time to rush "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". I guess I'll have to catch it when it comes out commercially. However, it gave me time to nap in the backseat of my car (not comfy) before my 8pm shift at the Ryerson. Caught a glimpse of Saoirse Ronin and Gemma Arterton on the red carpet before their film "Byzantium".
Got home at around 1am.
Monday September 10
Called in sick. The cold I had been in denial about for the past week was becoming an actual issue. Also the lack of sleep from the past three days had finally taken its toll. I was still able to drag my butt out of bed around 11am to do the general household chores that I couldn't have done otherwise if I had stuck to my schedule (dishes, laundry, etc.).
Went to Scotiabank Theatre in the evening to see "London - The Modern Babylon". Cool archival footage and a great soundtrack, but essentially it could have been called "London - Rioting Through the Decades". There was pretty much at least one riot every 10 years for the past century. The funny thing was that every riot looked the same: people throwing rocks, bobbies clubbing people, things on fire or exploding, horses running through the crowds. And although the reasons were vaguely different, the source was the same. Civil unrest is civil unrest.
Tuesday September 11
Stood in the rush line at Roy Thomson to see "Great Expectations". Ended up trading someone a voucher for an orchestra level seat. All the main stars except for Helena Bonham Carter were there. Really liked that it was a proper British period piece (none of that Ethan Hawke/Gwyneth Paltrow nonsense), but I swear, South Park has completely ruined this for me. I kept waiting for the Genesis device.
Wednesday September 12
Took the day off for a day of festing and volunteering. Saw "Still", which was a cute film about an older couple where the wife was beginning to exhibit Alzheimer's symptoms and the husband decides to build her a new house despite not being able to meet the municipal building codes. Based on a true story from New Brunswick.
"Three Sisters" was a long (3 hour) documentary about three little girls living in the mountains in China, mostly on their own. There was no background story, no interviews, no overdubbing. It was okay at first but watching them eat noodles for 10 minutes started to get to me. It could have been worse. The director's first documentary was 10 hours long.
They were showing "The Suicide Shop" during my Ryerson shift, which sounds kind of like a film I'd want to see: a 3D animated film about a family that owns a shop that sells items you can use to kill yourself, but unfortunately one of their sons is abnormally cheerful, optimistic and life-loving. Midnight Madness was "The Bay", a Barry Levinson film about parasites.
Thursday September 13
Got to my box office shift but won the draw to go home right away. Best shift ever.
Friday September 14
Last Ryerson shift. Held the green room door open for Jared Leto, who currently looks like a hillbilly. Did the link up at the back door afterwards, where he came out and intelligently asked the waiting fans to vote for his film "Artifact" for the People's Choice award. Maybe that's why it won.
For "The ABCs of Death", the programmer wanted volunteers to come out on stage during the introduction to "creatively represent" the directors who didn't make it to the screening (out of the 26 directors, I think maybe 12 showed up). I stayed outside and held the fort.
Saturday September 15
Made my way downtown in the early morn to see "Middle of Nowhere". A good film about how a wife copes with her husband in prison. Rushed to see "Clandestine Childhood", a film recommended by another volunteer. Really great Argentinian film about a boy whose parents were resistance fighters in the '70s and how he had to adopt a different name and hide his background from the other kids at school.
Last volunteer shift at the box office was another shortened stint. Awesome.
That was it for me. The next day was my friend's wedding, so I skipped out on the last day of screenings. A non-stop, tiring fest this time, but as always full of close encounters and some good films.
"We don't even have to try, it's always a good time"
Saturday, August 11, 2012
We're Number Three! We're Number Three!
It's been exhausting these past two weeks, hasn't it? Getting excited, then not getting excited, then feeling the heart drop. Today's been the worst of them all, watching the 4 x 100 men's relay team being disqualified after thinking they'd won the bronze. Unreal.
So we ended up with a bucketful of bronze medals, a few silvers, and one gold. The thing is, if you've noticed, more often than not, we find ourselves in fourth or fifth. Badminton, synchronized swimming (twice!), cycling, trampoline, shot put, decathlon, equestrian, swimming, wrestling...we were so close in all of these sports.
I find it funny that we have this inherent need to add all kinds of statistics to validate our success. For example, I just heard the announcer say that this is the highest total number of medals that a country has ever earned in the Summer Olympics where only one gold was achieved. Woo hoo.
Well, my heart goes out to all those who came close. See you in four.
"Nobody's a picture perfect, but we're worth it"
So we ended up with a bucketful of bronze medals, a few silvers, and one gold. The thing is, if you've noticed, more often than not, we find ourselves in fourth or fifth. Badminton, synchronized swimming (twice!), cycling, trampoline, shot put, decathlon, equestrian, swimming, wrestling...we were so close in all of these sports.
I find it funny that we have this inherent need to add all kinds of statistics to validate our success. For example, I just heard the announcer say that this is the highest total number of medals that a country has ever earned in the Summer Olympics where only one gold was achieved. Woo hoo.
Well, my heart goes out to all those who came close. See you in four.
"Nobody's a picture perfect, but we're worth it"
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Farewell To London
Alcohol of the (Yester)Day: Fuller's Chiswick Bitters and Fuller's Organic Honeydew
(BTW: Did I say Carlsberg last time? I meant Carling. Wow, I think I should be cut off now)
Yesterday, two things happened for the first time: 1) we got to an event on time, and 2) there was no controversy during our session. We heard about the fixing scandal at the other badminton match and, upon viewing the YouTube footage, I gotta say that if you're going to do something silly like fix a match, the least you could do is make it a little more subtle. Deliberately serving into the net is a bit of a giveaway.
Our session was intense and really confusing at times. There were 6 matches (two women's singles, two men's singles, and two mixed doubles) but they play 3 matches at the same time. So we're trying to pay attention but of course it's another really fast paced game and there's always something happening. I ended up paying more attention to the court in front of me and tried to watch the other two when something interesting was happening, like when someone was about to win the set or the match. Some of the rallies were incredible. And, once again, the Danish mixed doubles team had a raucous cheering section, but the Chinese fans gave them a run for their money. I don't know how the athletes can possibly concentrate through it.
So now I'm back at home. On the train to Gatwick this morning it was sad to say goodbye to the city and everything. I have to admit that the feeling this time is a little different from last time. Mostly because it really isn't over yet. There's still a lot of Olympics to go. And now I can actually watch the Canadian events. The BBC focuses on Team GB, naturally, so finding coverage with Canadians was a bit difficult. Still, I miss it already.
Cheers London. Until we meet again.
"Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in the city near Piccadilly, don't really know how I got here, I got some pictures on my phone"
(BTW: Did I say Carlsberg last time? I meant Carling. Wow, I think I should be cut off now)
Yesterday, two things happened for the first time: 1) we got to an event on time, and 2) there was no controversy during our session. We heard about the fixing scandal at the other badminton match and, upon viewing the YouTube footage, I gotta say that if you're going to do something silly like fix a match, the least you could do is make it a little more subtle. Deliberately serving into the net is a bit of a giveaway.
Our session was intense and really confusing at times. There were 6 matches (two women's singles, two men's singles, and two mixed doubles) but they play 3 matches at the same time. So we're trying to pay attention but of course it's another really fast paced game and there's always something happening. I ended up paying more attention to the court in front of me and tried to watch the other two when something interesting was happening, like when someone was about to win the set or the match. Some of the rallies were incredible. And, once again, the Danish mixed doubles team had a raucous cheering section, but the Chinese fans gave them a run for their money. I don't know how the athletes can possibly concentrate through it.
So now I'm back at home. On the train to Gatwick this morning it was sad to say goodbye to the city and everything. I have to admit that the feeling this time is a little different from last time. Mostly because it really isn't over yet. There's still a lot of Olympics to go. And now I can actually watch the Canadian events. The BBC focuses on Team GB, naturally, so finding coverage with Canadians was a bit difficult. Still, I miss it already.
Cheers London. Until we meet again.
"Woke up in London yesterday, found myself in the city near Piccadilly, don't really know how I got here, I got some pictures on my phone"
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The Best Cheering Section
Alcohol of the Day: Carlsberg (I know, I'm being unoriginal but there were limited choices)
It's the penultimate day for us here in London. We're running out of time, energy, and money (sort of). But, we press forward. As the British say, keep calm and carry on.
I've been having issues getting to the events on time. This mostly has to do with me having no idea how long it will take to get from here to anywhere, especially on the Tube, and even more especially after getting off the Tube. A lot of the venues, particularly ExCel, are a fair jaunt from the station. It's really well marked with both signs and people, but it's discouraging when you've been walking for ten minutes and you come across a sign or a person that says you're ten minutes away and your event started fifteen minutes ago.
When we got to the table tennis arena, we heard a loud cheer and then people started walking in the opposite direction. It turns out that we had missed the first quarterfinal of the session. That was unbelievable, given that we were about 25-30 minutes late. The second match was an amazingly close one, with the German guy leading 2-0 and the Danish guy coming back and winning 2 sets in a row, and then winning the fifth. We thought it was over, but then we found out that it's best out of 7, which means that in the first match, one of the guys must have crushed the other (and he did: I looked it up later, and the guy from Chinese Taipei, AKA Taiwan, demolished the Romanian guy). The German took the 6th set, so it was down to the last which the German won.
The most interesting part of the match was the audience. The Danish guy, Michael Maze, had the loudest cheering section up front. They would sing and clap between most of the points. And they were really coordinated, singing one song and then a different one. They had a relatively large repertoire, and the reason why I remember the guy's name is because they repeated it over and over and over again. I think it got to the point where the German's fans tried to chime in but they were less impressive. Not to mention the fact that I had no idea what either of them were saying.
"I had a way then losing it all on my own"
It's the penultimate day for us here in London. We're running out of time, energy, and money (sort of). But, we press forward. As the British say, keep calm and carry on.
I've been having issues getting to the events on time. This mostly has to do with me having no idea how long it will take to get from here to anywhere, especially on the Tube, and even more especially after getting off the Tube. A lot of the venues, particularly ExCel, are a fair jaunt from the station. It's really well marked with both signs and people, but it's discouraging when you've been walking for ten minutes and you come across a sign or a person that says you're ten minutes away and your event started fifteen minutes ago.
When we got to the table tennis arena, we heard a loud cheer and then people started walking in the opposite direction. It turns out that we had missed the first quarterfinal of the session. That was unbelievable, given that we were about 25-30 minutes late. The second match was an amazingly close one, with the German guy leading 2-0 and the Danish guy coming back and winning 2 sets in a row, and then winning the fifth. We thought it was over, but then we found out that it's best out of 7, which means that in the first match, one of the guys must have crushed the other (and he did: I looked it up later, and the guy from Chinese Taipei, AKA Taiwan, demolished the Romanian guy). The German took the 6th set, so it was down to the last which the German won.
The most interesting part of the match was the audience. The Danish guy, Michael Maze, had the loudest cheering section up front. They would sing and clap between most of the points. And they were really coordinated, singing one song and then a different one. They had a relatively large repertoire, and the reason why I remember the guy's name is because they repeated it over and over and over again. I think it got to the point where the German's fans tried to chime in but they were less impressive. Not to mention the fact that I had no idea what either of them were saying.
"I had a way then losing it all on my own"
Monday, July 30, 2012
A Fencing Filibuster
Alcohol of the Day: Magners (it's become my new favourite)
There's something about the events I chose to see. There's been controversy everywhere. If we had gotten the tickets in time to see the Glasgow football match, we would have seen the North Korean protest about the wrong flag.
Tonight we saw fencing, specifically the women's individual epee. And in the second semifinal match, there was more controversy, this time involving the South Koreans. It was between the South Korean girl and the German girl. It was a really close match, and in the end after an extra minute to settle the tied score, there was a technical issue with the clock. It was stuck at 1 second left, which allowed the German more time to score the winning point against the South Korean. We were all wondering how they could have drawn three times in that 1 second, and the South Korean girl was gesturing something to the referee. When the German scored, the South Korean girl took off her mask and started to cry. Her coach was irate. It took a while for the officials to decide what to do, and then they decided to award the win to the German. That's when the South Korean decided to hold the equivalent of a filibuster.
By refusing to leave the piste, she was officially indicating that she didn't agree with the decision. This is totally within the rules of fencing, apparently. Meanwhile, her coach and other South Korean athletic officials launched a protest. The thing was, it had to be in writing. So we all waited while she sat there on the piste and cried some more. The camera guy was trained on her the entire time. Some might think that she was being a sore loser. That would be true if she had actually lost fair and square. But when you lose due to some kind of technical malfunction, then that's not cool.
The announcer kept us informed, including the fact that some kind of payment had to accompany the official letter of protest, and so they were in the process of scraping together some cash, or something. The whole thing delayed the medal rounds by about an hour and a half, and at the end they had to escort her off the piste, which was pretty harsh. And THEN she had a few minutes to get it together and face the Chinese girl in the bronze medal round. By then, everyone (well, except maybe the Chinese) were supporting her, cheering loudly every time the piste lit up green, which signals that she scored a point. But in the end, she lost to the Chinese girl 15-11. So, instead of winning a gold or silver, she got nothing.
I felt so badly for her, and then I felt badly for the referees, who were booed when they were being introduced at the start of the match. It really had nothing to do with them, and booing is just poor form. Still, I felt a little better when the Ukrainian girl beat the German girl and won the gold.
"Light up, light up, as if you have a choice"
There's something about the events I chose to see. There's been controversy everywhere. If we had gotten the tickets in time to see the Glasgow football match, we would have seen the North Korean protest about the wrong flag.
Tonight we saw fencing, specifically the women's individual epee. And in the second semifinal match, there was more controversy, this time involving the South Koreans. It was between the South Korean girl and the German girl. It was a really close match, and in the end after an extra minute to settle the tied score, there was a technical issue with the clock. It was stuck at 1 second left, which allowed the German more time to score the winning point against the South Korean. We were all wondering how they could have drawn three times in that 1 second, and the South Korean girl was gesturing something to the referee. When the German scored, the South Korean girl took off her mask and started to cry. Her coach was irate. It took a while for the officials to decide what to do, and then they decided to award the win to the German. That's when the South Korean decided to hold the equivalent of a filibuster.
By refusing to leave the piste, she was officially indicating that she didn't agree with the decision. This is totally within the rules of fencing, apparently. Meanwhile, her coach and other South Korean athletic officials launched a protest. The thing was, it had to be in writing. So we all waited while she sat there on the piste and cried some more. The camera guy was trained on her the entire time. Some might think that she was being a sore loser. That would be true if she had actually lost fair and square. But when you lose due to some kind of technical malfunction, then that's not cool.
The announcer kept us informed, including the fact that some kind of payment had to accompany the official letter of protest, and so they were in the process of scraping together some cash, or something. The whole thing delayed the medal rounds by about an hour and a half, and at the end they had to escort her off the piste, which was pretty harsh. And THEN she had a few minutes to get it together and face the Chinese girl in the bronze medal round. By then, everyone (well, except maybe the Chinese) were supporting her, cheering loudly every time the piste lit up green, which signals that she scored a point. But in the end, she lost to the Chinese girl 15-11. So, instead of winning a gold or silver, she got nothing.
I felt so badly for her, and then I felt badly for the referees, who were booed when they were being introduced at the start of the match. It really had nothing to do with them, and booing is just poor form. Still, I felt a little better when the Ukrainian girl beat the German girl and won the gold.
"Light up, light up, as if you have a choice"
Sunday, July 29, 2012
If Soccer And Basketball Had A Baby...
Alcohol of the Day: Peroni
...that's what handball is. Actually, it kind of includes ice hockey too. They pass the ball to each other either by throwing or bouncing. They can only travel for a few steps or three seconds. They can dribble the ball but if they stop, they have 3 seconds to pass or shoot. There are penalty shots, yellow cards, and suspensions (usually for two minutes). They have an unlimited number of fouls, so full body contact is encouraged. And it's an incredibly fast game. Observe:
Oh yeah, somehow we got seats directly behind the goal. I flinched once when the ball flew over the goal and into the protective netting.
By the way, Olympic Park is as nice as it appears on TV. And they have the largest McDonald's I've ever seen.
"I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down"
...that's what handball is. Actually, it kind of includes ice hockey too. They pass the ball to each other either by throwing or bouncing. They can only travel for a few steps or three seconds. They can dribble the ball but if they stop, they have 3 seconds to pass or shoot. There are penalty shots, yellow cards, and suspensions (usually for two minutes). They have an unlimited number of fouls, so full body contact is encouraged. And it's an incredibly fast game. Observe:
Oh yeah, somehow we got seats directly behind the goal. I flinched once when the ball flew over the goal and into the protective netting.
By the way, Olympic Park is as nice as it appears on TV. And they have the largest McDonald's I've ever seen.
"I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down"
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Some Close Calls
Alcohol of the Day: Pimm's
It was a little dicey today for travelling. Breakfast took longer than we expected, and there were no taxis available, so we had to sprint to the station to catch our train to London. I had two minutes to pick up our tickets and jump onto the train. Luckily, we made it and now we're here!
Then, once we had found my brother's friend's flat, I took off to the ticket agent will call office to sort out this craziness with my tickets. I still hadn't heard a word from them so my worst fear was that they had mailed the tickets to Glasgow after all.
Once I got there, I queued up for a little while, then when I got to the desk I told my sad story. They took me to "the theatre", which was a waiting area for people who were having issues. I saw maybe 10 or so people sitting around while agents were running in and out of a door. A woman came and wrote down my issues and went through the door. I was sitting in front of a guy wearing a Blue Jays cap, so I knew immediately that he's from Toronto. I asked him how long he'd been waiting, and he told me that this was his fifth time in the waiting room in the last six days. It would appear that the entire thing is an organizational nightmare, and they had messed up his order and so far were just unable to get it fixed. Today, he had come to the office early. They sent him off saying that they would call him when they found his tickets. He hung around the area for a little while before heading back to his house (he lives in London). Then he found a message from them saying that they had his tickets, so he went all the way back. He got his tickets just before I got there at around 1:00, but there was one set of tickets for mens' swimming that had already happened this morning. So now he was waiting to find out what they could do for him.
The scary thing was that while he's been waiting for the past six days, he'd been hearing a lot of stories that were even worse than his. There was a guy from New York who'd found out the other day that his tickets had been mailed to New York the day before. He had to call someone quickly to go and pick up the package and send it back immediately. A family of four from Sydney had arrived and their tickets weren't here and the mother became so frustrated that she burst into tears. For the Toronto Guy, he found out earlier that the tickets he had requested to be mailed to his house were mailed to another person with the same name as him in the US. So now I was getting really nervous. There was a reason why nobody was answering my calls and e-mails.
Finally, after a little more waiting, and after the Toronto Guy had resolved his swimming tickets issue, they came out with my tickets. Everything was there, which was a relief, and the only problem I had was that they had given me two badminton tickets that were not together. They tried to find seats that were next to each other, but they didn't have any left. I figured it was okay, since we were only separated by four seats and will probably be able to work out a switch at the venue. It could have been worse. Toronto Guy had two tickets that were separated by four sections.
"I told ya I was trouble, you know that I'm no good"
It was a little dicey today for travelling. Breakfast took longer than we expected, and there were no taxis available, so we had to sprint to the station to catch our train to London. I had two minutes to pick up our tickets and jump onto the train. Luckily, we made it and now we're here!
Then, once we had found my brother's friend's flat, I took off to the ticket agent will call office to sort out this craziness with my tickets. I still hadn't heard a word from them so my worst fear was that they had mailed the tickets to Glasgow after all.
Once I got there, I queued up for a little while, then when I got to the desk I told my sad story. They took me to "the theatre", which was a waiting area for people who were having issues. I saw maybe 10 or so people sitting around while agents were running in and out of a door. A woman came and wrote down my issues and went through the door. I was sitting in front of a guy wearing a Blue Jays cap, so I knew immediately that he's from Toronto. I asked him how long he'd been waiting, and he told me that this was his fifth time in the waiting room in the last six days. It would appear that the entire thing is an organizational nightmare, and they had messed up his order and so far were just unable to get it fixed. Today, he had come to the office early. They sent him off saying that they would call him when they found his tickets. He hung around the area for a little while before heading back to his house (he lives in London). Then he found a message from them saying that they had his tickets, so he went all the way back. He got his tickets just before I got there at around 1:00, but there was one set of tickets for mens' swimming that had already happened this morning. So now he was waiting to find out what they could do for him.
The scary thing was that while he's been waiting for the past six days, he'd been hearing a lot of stories that were even worse than his. There was a guy from New York who'd found out the other day that his tickets had been mailed to New York the day before. He had to call someone quickly to go and pick up the package and send it back immediately. A family of four from Sydney had arrived and their tickets weren't here and the mother became so frustrated that she burst into tears. For the Toronto Guy, he found out earlier that the tickets he had requested to be mailed to his house were mailed to another person with the same name as him in the US. So now I was getting really nervous. There was a reason why nobody was answering my calls and e-mails.
Finally, after a little more waiting, and after the Toronto Guy had resolved his swimming tickets issue, they came out with my tickets. Everything was there, which was a relief, and the only problem I had was that they had given me two badminton tickets that were not together. They tried to find seats that were next to each other, but they didn't have any left. I figured it was okay, since we were only separated by four seats and will probably be able to work out a switch at the venue. It could have been worse. Toronto Guy had two tickets that were separated by four sections.
"I told ya I was trouble, you know that I'm no good"
Friday, July 27, 2012
If Only I Had A Hat
Alcohol of the Day: John Smith's Extra Smooth
It's finally here. They didn't have a public screen set up in York to watch the opening ceremony, so our choices were to find an available pub with TV screens, or watch it in our room. But wait...
We found out that not only was there going to be horseracing here in York this weekend, but that there were going to be races tonight, and they were going to show the ceremony on big screens for everyone to see. At first, I was hesitant to go because I had absolutely nothing appropriate to wear for an evening at the races. If only I had a hat! But as it turned out, you only needed to dress up in the grandstand. In the infield, or the course enclosure as they call it, you can wear whatever you like. You can even bring a picnic. So we hopped on a shuttle bus and made our way to the York Racecourse.
The English take their horse races seriously. There were people in the enclosure who were dressed up. Men in suits, women with fascinators and high heels (even on the turf). Of course, we couldn't just sit there and watch the races. My brother made some cautious bets, and of the five of six races that he bet on, he won three times. It was funny because of the horses he chose to place, two of them actually won. So in the end, he only lost a couple of pounds, which isn't too bad.
After the races, they had an 80's music showcase. But as 9:00pm approached, it didn't seem like they were going to show the ceremony yet because the concert was still going on. Also, the sun was setting and the wind had picked up, so it was getting really chilly. After a few minutes, we decided to just head back to the hotel. We missed the first half hour but it sounds like there were some good moments in the beginning. I guess I'll have to YouTube it later, if it doesn't repeat ad nauseum on TV.
But now it's time for sleep. Tomorrow, we're London bound.
"There's no point in asking, you'll get no reply"
It's finally here. They didn't have a public screen set up in York to watch the opening ceremony, so our choices were to find an available pub with TV screens, or watch it in our room. But wait...
We found out that not only was there going to be horseracing here in York this weekend, but that there were going to be races tonight, and they were going to show the ceremony on big screens for everyone to see. At first, I was hesitant to go because I had absolutely nothing appropriate to wear for an evening at the races. If only I had a hat! But as it turned out, you only needed to dress up in the grandstand. In the infield, or the course enclosure as they call it, you can wear whatever you like. You can even bring a picnic. So we hopped on a shuttle bus and made our way to the York Racecourse.
The English take their horse races seriously. There were people in the enclosure who were dressed up. Men in suits, women with fascinators and high heels (even on the turf). Of course, we couldn't just sit there and watch the races. My brother made some cautious bets, and of the five of six races that he bet on, he won three times. It was funny because of the horses he chose to place, two of them actually won. So in the end, he only lost a couple of pounds, which isn't too bad.
After the races, they had an 80's music showcase. But as 9:00pm approached, it didn't seem like they were going to show the ceremony yet because the concert was still going on. Also, the sun was setting and the wind had picked up, so it was getting really chilly. After a few minutes, we decided to just head back to the hotel. We missed the first half hour but it sounds like there were some good moments in the beginning. I guess I'll have to YouTube it later, if it doesn't repeat ad nauseum on TV.
But now it's time for sleep. Tomorrow, we're London bound.
"There's no point in asking, you'll get no reply"
Thursday, July 26, 2012
A River Runs Through All Of Them
Alcohol of the Day: Strongbow
York - our last stop before London. It occurred to me that this leg of the trip has turned into the William Wallace tour of the UK. I've been to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, and now York. Well, okay maybe the York thing wasn't historically accurate, but it was a memorable part of the movie.
As we walked around York this afternoon, I realized that there was a river running through all of the cities we've been to: the Liffey in Dublin, the Lagen in Belfast, the Clyde in Glasgow, and now the Ouse in York. And, of course, the Thames later on. They all have a really brown tinge to them, but we did see a seal pop its head out of the water in Belfast, so they're not totally devoid of life. And strangely there weren't a lot of boats in the water, other than the Clyde and the Ouse.
Anyway, you be the judge:
"But if you're too big to follow rivers, how you ever gonna find the seas"
York - our last stop before London. It occurred to me that this leg of the trip has turned into the William Wallace tour of the UK. I've been to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, and now York. Well, okay maybe the York thing wasn't historically accurate, but it was a memorable part of the movie.
As we walked around York this afternoon, I realized that there was a river running through all of the cities we've been to: the Liffey in Dublin, the Lagen in Belfast, the Clyde in Glasgow, and now the Ouse in York. And, of course, the Thames later on. They all have a really brown tinge to them, but we did see a seal pop its head out of the water in Belfast, so they're not totally devoid of life. And strangely there weren't a lot of boats in the water, other than the Clyde and the Ouse.
Anyway, you be the judge:
Liffey
Lagen
Clyde
Ouse
"But if you're too big to follow rivers, how you ever gonna find the seas"
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Making Sense
Alcohol of the Day: Samuel Smith's Organic Wheat Beer
It was the nicest day ever so far. It was even...dare I say it...hot. I wore my Coldplay t-shirt as a symbol of me missing the concert back home. I was so sad when I found out that they would be in town when I wasn't. It would be the first one I've missed in the past five years or so (I've been to the last 3 concerts). But, as my coworker said to me, "I don't feel sorry for you."
So, I've stayed optimistic up to the very last moment, but unfortunately I've had to miss the first Olympics event. I bought tickets to the women's football match for today in Glasgow (US vs. France and North Korea vs. Colombia). Because of a SNAFU, the North American ticket agent that I bought the tickets from weren't able to mail the tickets to me. I have to pick them up from the Will Call office in London. The problem is that the office wasn't open when I was in London. And even then, I was in London for about 2 hours between flights, so there wouldn't have been a chance to get them anyway. I've been trying to get them to send the tickets to my hotel in Glasgow, but there was just no response. Oh well. I'll have to deal with them once I get there. It turns out that we didn't miss too much anyway, other than the hour-long delay at the beginning the North Korea-Colombia game when the North Korean players refused to start the match because they had displayed the South Korean flag next to their names. I can appreciate why they'd be upset. A bunch of people have asked me if I'm American.
While wandering around the Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, we tried to make sense of the layout. It was kind of confusing, transitioning from art to displays about nature to archeology to technology and then back to art. It was a nice building, but we just didn't get what they were doing.
Why does everything close at 6:00 pm in Glasgow?? The cultural things close around 5:00, which is pretty typical. But then you only have an hour or so to check out the shops and then it's done for the day. I guess the only thing left to do is eat and/or drink, but you can only do either for so long.
"Took a car downtown and took what they offered me"
It was the nicest day ever so far. It was even...dare I say it...hot. I wore my Coldplay t-shirt as a symbol of me missing the concert back home. I was so sad when I found out that they would be in town when I wasn't. It would be the first one I've missed in the past five years or so (I've been to the last 3 concerts). But, as my coworker said to me, "I don't feel sorry for you."
So, I've stayed optimistic up to the very last moment, but unfortunately I've had to miss the first Olympics event. I bought tickets to the women's football match for today in Glasgow (US vs. France and North Korea vs. Colombia). Because of a SNAFU, the North American ticket agent that I bought the tickets from weren't able to mail the tickets to me. I have to pick them up from the Will Call office in London. The problem is that the office wasn't open when I was in London. And even then, I was in London for about 2 hours between flights, so there wouldn't have been a chance to get them anyway. I've been trying to get them to send the tickets to my hotel in Glasgow, but there was just no response. Oh well. I'll have to deal with them once I get there. It turns out that we didn't miss too much anyway, other than the hour-long delay at the beginning the North Korea-Colombia game when the North Korean players refused to start the match because they had displayed the South Korean flag next to their names. I can appreciate why they'd be upset. A bunch of people have asked me if I'm American.
While wandering around the Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum, we tried to make sense of the layout. It was kind of confusing, transitioning from art to displays about nature to archeology to technology and then back to art. It was a nice building, but we just didn't get what they were doing.
Why does everything close at 6:00 pm in Glasgow?? The cultural things close around 5:00, which is pretty typical. But then you only have an hour or so to check out the shops and then it's done for the day. I guess the only thing left to do is eat and/or drink, but you can only do either for so long.
"Took a car downtown and took what they offered me"
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The Castle of Aaauuuggghhh
Alcohol of the Day: Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
We took a tour up to the Highlands. We started out with six people, but three of them switched buses at Stirling Castle because they were going on a two-day tour. So basically it was the two of us and an Australian girl named Amy for the whole tour, with our tour guide Jaime.
Stirling Castle was pretty cool but we dawdled a bit at the beginning so we didn't really have a chance to see everything. The view was spectacular, which included a clear sight of the Wallace Monument. After Stirling, we made an unscheduled stop at Doune Castle, where scenes from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" were filmed. Actually, due to budget constraints, they used the castle to represent four different castles in the movie. They just shot it from different angles. It's not just the coconuts.
We drove through the Trossachs and stopped at Aberfoyle for lunch before heading to Loch Lomond. I've had the song in my head for weeks and weeks in anticipation of seeing it. While it wasn't something wholly spectacular, it is the largest lake (in surface area) in Scotland, so it was something. And the history of the song turned out to be kind of sad.
Our last stop was to take a tour at the Glengoyne Distillery. We sampled 10- and 17-year-old scotch. I'm not usually a scotch drinker, but I have to say that it was really smooth. I could get used to this.
"You take the high road and I'll take the low road"
We took a tour up to the Highlands. We started out with six people, but three of them switched buses at Stirling Castle because they were going on a two-day tour. So basically it was the two of us and an Australian girl named Amy for the whole tour, with our tour guide Jaime.
Stirling Castle was pretty cool but we dawdled a bit at the beginning so we didn't really have a chance to see everything. The view was spectacular, which included a clear sight of the Wallace Monument. After Stirling, we made an unscheduled stop at Doune Castle, where scenes from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" were filmed. Actually, due to budget constraints, they used the castle to represent four different castles in the movie. They just shot it from different angles. It's not just the coconuts.
We drove through the Trossachs and stopped at Aberfoyle for lunch before heading to Loch Lomond. I've had the song in my head for weeks and weeks in anticipation of seeing it. While it wasn't something wholly spectacular, it is the largest lake (in surface area) in Scotland, so it was something. And the history of the song turned out to be kind of sad.
Our last stop was to take a tour at the Glengoyne Distillery. We sampled 10- and 17-year-old scotch. I'm not usually a scotch drinker, but I have to say that it was really smooth. I could get used to this.
"You take the high road and I'll take the low road"
Monday, July 23, 2012
Scottish Mist
Alcohol of the Day: Weston's Organic Cider
It doesn't really fall on you, it just floats around in the air. And it's constant. Then someone turns on the tap and it just pours down.
We were in Edinburgh today for a day trip. If the weather were a bit better, we probably could have seen more. But we had to settle for Edinburgh Castle, which was pretty impressive, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse to call on the Queen but she wasn't home.
We walked around Old Town and New Town as much as possible but it was hard to take any decent photos. Plus we were on the verge of saturation.
While we were waiting for the train to come back to Glasgow, we met an elderly lady who needed a little help because her eyesight wasn't that great. There had been some kind of mix-up and she had taken the wrong train, so now she wanted to make sure she was transferring to the right train this time. She was really nice, and she said her name was McTavish, which apparently is an uncommon name but also one that they commonly use at the start of jokes. We chatted for a while because the train was late. It turns out that she was the first female to umpire at centre court at Wimbledon. I looked it up when we got back to the room and there was her name, Catherine McTavish. And, kind of ironically, it was in 1979. Why does this keep happening to me? I keep accidentally encountering famous women at the Olympics...
Tomorrow, we hit the Highlands.
"We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels 'cross the floor"
It doesn't really fall on you, it just floats around in the air. And it's constant. Then someone turns on the tap and it just pours down.
We were in Edinburgh today for a day trip. If the weather were a bit better, we probably could have seen more. But we had to settle for Edinburgh Castle, which was pretty impressive, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse to call on the Queen but she wasn't home.
We walked around Old Town and New Town as much as possible but it was hard to take any decent photos. Plus we were on the verge of saturation.
While we were waiting for the train to come back to Glasgow, we met an elderly lady who needed a little help because her eyesight wasn't that great. There had been some kind of mix-up and she had taken the wrong train, so now she wanted to make sure she was transferring to the right train this time. She was really nice, and she said her name was McTavish, which apparently is an uncommon name but also one that they commonly use at the start of jokes. We chatted for a while because the train was late. It turns out that she was the first female to umpire at centre court at Wimbledon. I looked it up when we got back to the room and there was her name, Catherine McTavish. And, kind of ironically, it was in 1979. Why does this keep happening to me? I keep accidentally encountering famous women at the Olympics...
Tomorrow, we hit the Highlands.
"We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels 'cross the floor"
Sunday, July 22, 2012
More Calamity Involving My Feet
Alcohol of the Day: Kingfisher (I'll explain...)
Okay, so I was one of those people who saw "Titanic" not once, not twice, but four times at the theatre. And once on a six-storey tall IMAX screen. Looking back, I can't really explain why. Now, I think it was because it was just so ironically sad. Not the fictional love story, but just the whole situation. We all knew how it was going to end. It's like "Apollo 13". The climax wasn't really climactic.
We went to the new Titanic Belfast museum in the Titanic Quarter. They built it right on the slipway where the ship was launched. It looks small from the outside, and from above it looks like a white star. But inside, they packed a lot of stuff in, and the majority of the exhibit has nothing to do with the sinking. So many touchscreens, so state-of-the-art...including a 6-minute cable-car ride. By the end of it, the geek in me was even more sad. The engineering of the thing was really impressive. If only...
Oh yeah, and it reminded me that my parents had just landed in London a couple of days ago and got on their cruise boat in Southampton. More irony.
That was pretty much it for Belfast. Yeah, we didn't fit in too many things, but we walked a lot. There's two reasons for this: 1) it's a pretty walkable city, and 2) I had no idea how to navigate the bus system. But walking was fine, until it started to hurt today. I pressed on, thinking that it was just because my feet had swelled and my shoes were a little tight. And yes, my feet had swelled, but it caused toes to rub together the wrong way during the walking and I found out later that I was bleeding. Those who saw me a few weeks ago know that I had issues with my right foot stemming from infected bug bites and swelling (again). This time it was my left, so at least it's balanced.
After the quickest flight ever (we started landing after 10 minutes in the air), we're now in soggy Glasgow. Upon the recommendation of the cabbie and my guide book, we had dinner down the street from our hotel at Mother India (hence the Kingfisher). Who would have thought I'd be eating Indian in Glasgow?
"But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more"
Okay, so I was one of those people who saw "Titanic" not once, not twice, but four times at the theatre. And once on a six-storey tall IMAX screen. Looking back, I can't really explain why. Now, I think it was because it was just so ironically sad. Not the fictional love story, but just the whole situation. We all knew how it was going to end. It's like "Apollo 13". The climax wasn't really climactic.
We went to the new Titanic Belfast museum in the Titanic Quarter. They built it right on the slipway where the ship was launched. It looks small from the outside, and from above it looks like a white star. But inside, they packed a lot of stuff in, and the majority of the exhibit has nothing to do with the sinking. So many touchscreens, so state-of-the-art...including a 6-minute cable-car ride. By the end of it, the geek in me was even more sad. The engineering of the thing was really impressive. If only...
Oh yeah, and it reminded me that my parents had just landed in London a couple of days ago and got on their cruise boat in Southampton. More irony.
That was pretty much it for Belfast. Yeah, we didn't fit in too many things, but we walked a lot. There's two reasons for this: 1) it's a pretty walkable city, and 2) I had no idea how to navigate the bus system. But walking was fine, until it started to hurt today. I pressed on, thinking that it was just because my feet had swelled and my shoes were a little tight. And yes, my feet had swelled, but it caused toes to rub together the wrong way during the walking and I found out later that I was bleeding. Those who saw me a few weeks ago know that I had issues with my right foot stemming from infected bug bites and swelling (again). This time it was my left, so at least it's balanced.
After the quickest flight ever (we started landing after 10 minutes in the air), we're now in soggy Glasgow. Upon the recommendation of the cabbie and my guide book, we had dinner down the street from our hotel at Mother India (hence the Kingfisher). Who would have thought I'd be eating Indian in Glasgow?
"But I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more"
Saturday, July 21, 2012
In the Land of Giants
Alcohol of the Day: Magners Irish Cider
Today's travels took us to the Giant's Causeway, a 90 minute bus ride outside of Belfast, but the way the bus driver was going it took us less than that. The legend is that the giant Finn MacCool built the causeway from Ireland to Scotland to fight another giant. But anyway, the geological formations were pretty awesome and, more importantly, easy to climb onto despite repeated warnings of risk.
The interesting thing is that similar formations can be found in Scotland. I would never have checked this out had it not been for my Irish coworker. Thanks for the tip Seamus!
Tomorrow, my heart will go on...
"Ordinary people like you and me, we're the builders of their destiny"
Today's travels took us to the Giant's Causeway, a 90 minute bus ride outside of Belfast, but the way the bus driver was going it took us less than that. The legend is that the giant Finn MacCool built the causeway from Ireland to Scotland to fight another giant. But anyway, the geological formations were pretty awesome and, more importantly, easy to climb onto despite repeated warnings of risk.
The interesting thing is that similar formations can be found in Scotland. I would never have checked this out had it not been for my Irish coworker. Thanks for the tip Seamus!
Tomorrow, my heart will go on...
"Ordinary people like you and me, we're the builders of their destiny"
Friday, July 20, 2012
Encounters With Young People
Alcohol of the Day: None (at least not for me)
Our B&B in Dublin is situated steps from the Aviva Stadium, home of the Irish rugby union team and the national football team. So, naturally, we thought it would be interesting to take a tour. We walked around half of the perimeter and couldn't find an open entrance. We went back to our B&B to see if they knew how to get in. They called the stadium to see if it was too late to take the tour and found out that, since they're setting up for the Madonna concert that was taking place in a few days, they're not doing any tours right now. Well boo. But it was likely for the best, because they had the Bruce Springsteen concert there the day we arrived, so it was probable that there wouldn't be much to see in terms of a pitch anyway. Just a bare floor and sound and lighting equipment everywhere.
Our consolation prize was to try and get to Croke Park Stadium north of the city centre in time for their first tour. We made it again with less than a minute to spare. The tour group was fairly large, half of which appeared to be a group of special needs kids and their chaperones. They added some colour to this experience (random statements, some frantic gestures, a lot of enthusiam, etc.). This tour was pretty impressive. They showed a behind-the-scenes video of the facility during championship matches. This stadium hosts the amateur gaelic football and hurling teams. Yeah, I have no idea either. Both games appear to be strange combinations of other sports (gaelic football is like football, rugby, and North American football, while hurling is like field hockey, football, and polo without the horses). But the stadium holds 82,500 spectators, which for amateur sport is fairly amazing. We got to walk through the tunnels, see the dressing rooms, walk out beside the pitch, sit in the announcers' booths, and check out a VIP box. They kept throwing names out that I had never heard of before, but it was kind of cool that the Australian tourist's cousin played on the same team as the tour guide's father.
Later in the day, we took the train from Dublin to Belfast. Our car was packed with college kids who were apparently on an ultimate frisbee team and were going to Belfast for a tournament. They were also incredibly well stocked. I don't know if I've ever seen this much alcohol outside of a liquor store. Well, okay maybe, but the speed and quantity that was consumed on a two-hour train ride was staggering. They were nice and all, but it made for a loud journey.
"The silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload"
Our B&B in Dublin is situated steps from the Aviva Stadium, home of the Irish rugby union team and the national football team. So, naturally, we thought it would be interesting to take a tour. We walked around half of the perimeter and couldn't find an open entrance. We went back to our B&B to see if they knew how to get in. They called the stadium to see if it was too late to take the tour and found out that, since they're setting up for the Madonna concert that was taking place in a few days, they're not doing any tours right now. Well boo. But it was likely for the best, because they had the Bruce Springsteen concert there the day we arrived, so it was probable that there wouldn't be much to see in terms of a pitch anyway. Just a bare floor and sound and lighting equipment everywhere.
Our consolation prize was to try and get to Croke Park Stadium north of the city centre in time for their first tour. We made it again with less than a minute to spare. The tour group was fairly large, half of which appeared to be a group of special needs kids and their chaperones. They added some colour to this experience (random statements, some frantic gestures, a lot of enthusiam, etc.). This tour was pretty impressive. They showed a behind-the-scenes video of the facility during championship matches. This stadium hosts the amateur gaelic football and hurling teams. Yeah, I have no idea either. Both games appear to be strange combinations of other sports (gaelic football is like football, rugby, and North American football, while hurling is like field hockey, football, and polo without the horses). But the stadium holds 82,500 spectators, which for amateur sport is fairly amazing. We got to walk through the tunnels, see the dressing rooms, walk out beside the pitch, sit in the announcers' booths, and check out a VIP box. They kept throwing names out that I had never heard of before, but it was kind of cool that the Australian tourist's cousin played on the same team as the tour guide's father.
Later in the day, we took the train from Dublin to Belfast. Our car was packed with college kids who were apparently on an ultimate frisbee team and were going to Belfast for a tournament. They were also incredibly well stocked. I don't know if I've ever seen this much alcohol outside of a liquor store. Well, okay maybe, but the speed and quantity that was consumed on a two-hour train ride was staggering. They were nice and all, but it made for a loud journey.
"The silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload"
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Things I've Noticed About Dublin
Alcohol of the Day: Jameson Whiskey
First things first - to continue from yesterday, here are a few images:
And here are a few from today:
As we walked all over Dublin city centre today, I realized that I was hearing a lot of different languages being spoken. Particularly French and Spanish. Not a lot of English, not even with the Irish accent.
We were on two different tours today, one at Dublin Castle and one at Old Jameson Distillery, and both of those tours were led by girls with names that I've never heard of before, that were somewhat easy to pronounce but I'm sure I have no idea how to spell. Actually, I can't really remember them right now.
When parallel parking on the road, you can park in any direction you like. Even if it means facing into traffic. I haven't seen this parking technique executed yet, and it baffles me. It also confuses me further when it comes to the direction of traffic in general.
My brother still can't used to the fact that there's daylight past 9:00pm.
It appears that I'm not the only one who's not very impressed with the Dublin bus system. We'll find out what the DART train is like tomorrow. Yeah, two different transit systems...
Last day in Dublin tomorrow. Onward to Belfast.
"And when tomorrow comes, we can do it all again"
First things first - to continue from yesterday, here are a few images:
And here are a few from today:
As we walked all over Dublin city centre today, I realized that I was hearing a lot of different languages being spoken. Particularly French and Spanish. Not a lot of English, not even with the Irish accent.
We were on two different tours today, one at Dublin Castle and one at Old Jameson Distillery, and both of those tours were led by girls with names that I've never heard of before, that were somewhat easy to pronounce but I'm sure I have no idea how to spell. Actually, I can't really remember them right now.
When parallel parking on the road, you can park in any direction you like. Even if it means facing into traffic. I haven't seen this parking technique executed yet, and it baffles me. It also confuses me further when it comes to the direction of traffic in general.
My brother still can't used to the fact that there's daylight past 9:00pm.
It appears that I'm not the only one who's not very impressed with the Dublin bus system. We'll find out what the DART train is like tomorrow. Yeah, two different transit systems...
Last day in Dublin tomorrow. Onward to Belfast.
"And when tomorrow comes, we can do it all again"
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Glorious Relief
Alcohol of the Day: Guinness (what else?!)
Welcome new readers! And so begins the tour.
Be forewarned: I've been mostly awake for the past 36 hours, so if it starts to go downhill, that would be why.
Getting to Dublin was relatively uneventful. What was great for both me and my brother was stepping outside and feeling glorious relief. For me, I was coming from a place where the humidity made it feel like 43 degrees Celsius. For him, he was coming from a place where the overnight low was 30 degrees Celsius. It was as though we could breathe again.
Not only that, but it rained. A number of times, actually. It felt SO good...
So despite the fact that we were both rather jetlagged, we just plowed forward after dropping our bags off in our room and made our way directly to the Guinness Storehouse. Well, not directly per se. We have yet to get the hang of the Dublin Bus system. We made it minutes before 7:00pm, which was the last admission time. We went through the history of Guinness pretty quickly, then headed up to the Gravity Bar for our free pint before last call. Very refreshing, but given that I hadn't eaten a proper meal in about 12 hours, it didn't sit quite right.
We headed to Temple Bar to have a late dinner, and for some reason I decided to order a Beamish (I couldn't finish it). And then had a Bailey's coffee afterwards (it was free). So yeah, not tipsy but not feeling that great.
I have photos but I really can't do much more posting right now. I'll catch up tomorrow.
"I know I've felt like this before, but now I'm feeling it even more"
Welcome new readers! And so begins the tour.
Be forewarned: I've been mostly awake for the past 36 hours, so if it starts to go downhill, that would be why.
Getting to Dublin was relatively uneventful. What was great for both me and my brother was stepping outside and feeling glorious relief. For me, I was coming from a place where the humidity made it feel like 43 degrees Celsius. For him, he was coming from a place where the overnight low was 30 degrees Celsius. It was as though we could breathe again.
Not only that, but it rained. A number of times, actually. It felt SO good...
So despite the fact that we were both rather jetlagged, we just plowed forward after dropping our bags off in our room and made our way directly to the Guinness Storehouse. Well, not directly per se. We have yet to get the hang of the Dublin Bus system. We made it minutes before 7:00pm, which was the last admission time. We went through the history of Guinness pretty quickly, then headed up to the Gravity Bar for our free pint before last call. Very refreshing, but given that I hadn't eaten a proper meal in about 12 hours, it didn't sit quite right.
We headed to Temple Bar to have a late dinner, and for some reason I decided to order a Beamish (I couldn't finish it). And then had a Bailey's coffee afterwards (it was free). So yeah, not tipsy but not feeling that great.
I have photos but I really can't do much more posting right now. I'll catch up tomorrow.
"I know I've felt like this before, but now I'm feeling it even more"
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Drinking Tour 2012
(Oh yeah, and the Olympics...)
I think I might be one of the very few people in the world who could look forward to going from a place that's hot and sunny to a place that's cold and rainy. But I am. SUPER excited. I'm a week away from Drinking Tour 2012 (with a side trip to the London Olympics). My little brother and I are going to start in Dublin and work our way around to London (hitting Belfast, Glasgow/Edinburgh, and York along the way). As per Vancouver, I'll do my best to blog consistently about my travels. Hopefully I'll be able to type straight...
Any suggestions for must-see places are welcome, but I've already been accused of "over-planning". I can't help it. It's what I do. Ever since Paris 2002, where I experienced the consequences of poor planning, I've made it a habit to efficiently pack as much into a trip as I possibly can without overdoing it to the point of pure exhaustion. I guess my cohorts from the Puerto Rico 2006 trip found that out firsthand. And contrary to popular opinion, I am capable of spontaneity. I just happen to think about it in advance.
Nevertheless, Guinness and Jameson were the very first on the list. I've been told to go to the Giant's Causeway, which I've discovered is incredibly cool and will actually fit into the plan. Of course, I HAVE to see the new Titanic museum. I'm having issues trying to decide which way to go through the Scottish Highlands (can I make it all the way to Loch Ness?) whilst still being able to sample the whisky. I know York sounds like a weird choice, but if you consider that I'm from a place formerly called York, and if you look at a map of Yorkshire, you can't help but notice a lot of familiar names surrounding York (Scarborough, Pickering, Whitby, etc.). So it's kind of appropriate, in a bizarre way. Like going back to the source. And my only goal in London is to buy a proper hat. We'll see what we can fit in between.
"So if by the time the bar closes, and you feel like falling down, I'll carry you home tonight"
I think I might be one of the very few people in the world who could look forward to going from a place that's hot and sunny to a place that's cold and rainy. But I am. SUPER excited. I'm a week away from Drinking Tour 2012 (with a side trip to the London Olympics). My little brother and I are going to start in Dublin and work our way around to London (hitting Belfast, Glasgow/Edinburgh, and York along the way). As per Vancouver, I'll do my best to blog consistently about my travels. Hopefully I'll be able to type straight...
Any suggestions for must-see places are welcome, but I've already been accused of "over-planning". I can't help it. It's what I do. Ever since Paris 2002, where I experienced the consequences of poor planning, I've made it a habit to efficiently pack as much into a trip as I possibly can without overdoing it to the point of pure exhaustion. I guess my cohorts from the Puerto Rico 2006 trip found that out firsthand. And contrary to popular opinion, I am capable of spontaneity. I just happen to think about it in advance.
Nevertheless, Guinness and Jameson were the very first on the list. I've been told to go to the Giant's Causeway, which I've discovered is incredibly cool and will actually fit into the plan. Of course, I HAVE to see the new Titanic museum. I'm having issues trying to decide which way to go through the Scottish Highlands (can I make it all the way to Loch Ness?) whilst still being able to sample the whisky. I know York sounds like a weird choice, but if you consider that I'm from a place formerly called York, and if you look at a map of Yorkshire, you can't help but notice a lot of familiar names surrounding York (Scarborough, Pickering, Whitby, etc.). So it's kind of appropriate, in a bizarre way. Like going back to the source. And my only goal in London is to buy a proper hat. We'll see what we can fit in between.
"So if by the time the bar closes, and you feel like falling down, I'll carry you home tonight"
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Natural Disasters
I was turning on to my street today after work when I saw a flashing fire engine driving through the gatehouse to my development. Great, I thought, I really hope it's not another false alarm in my building. Or, worse yet, an actual alarm. I turned to enter the gatehouse and saw that the fire engine had stopped in front of one of the newer buildings, where construction was in its final stages. There, right in front of the building, was a dumpster with flames shooting out of the top. Wow, I thought, it's a REAL fire. Of course, this meant that everyone was slowing to gawk at it, blocking all incoming and outgoing traffic. I made sure the car in front of me was really going to stop and watch, then cut around him, drove through the roundabout the wrong way (the fire truck prevented me from going around correctly), steered around the pedestrian onlookers, and went to my garage. After picking up my mail from the lobby, I became curious and went outside to look. The firefighters had promptly extinguished the fire, but it was still smoking, and there was a distinct smell in the air, so I went back into my building and up to my unit.
I took a quick look from my balcony a little while later. It was a little hard to see everything from my altitude, but I could see that there firefighters inside the dumpster, shovelling through the charred debris, probably looking for the cause of the fire. They had cordoned off half of the roundabout with caution tape. I guess I came home just in time to see the exciting part and avoid the inconvenient part.
A week ago, a story in the news caught my eye. An earthquake had hit northern Italy. Upon closer inspection, I found out that the epicenter was just 40 km north of Bologna. It was a magnitude 6.0 quake, strong enough to be felt as far away as Venice and Milan. My first thought was of the people I had met when I was there a year and a half ago. The photos of the collapsed buildings were in smaller towns to the north, so I figured that the ones in Bologna were probably okay. It was still sad to see centuries-old building reduced to rubble so quickly. The one of the clock tower with only half a clock still standing affected me the most.
I woke this morning to hear on the radio that another earthquake of similar strength had hit the same area again yesterday. This time, more buildings collapsed, likely because the first one weakened their structures, and more people died, sadly because they had chosen that exact moment to enter damaged buildings to retrieve belongings or to assess the damage. When I saw that schools in Bologna had to be evacuated for safety, I decided I had to check and see if the people from our equipment vendor were okay. After all, their facility is up in the hills. I sent an e-mail to a couple of them to ask how they were doing. I received a reply pretty quickly from one of them, saying that they were all pretty scared but everyone was okay. That was reassuring to hear. They're the nicest people, and I came to feel at home in Bologna when I was there. I'm hoping that none of the amazing architecture was affected by the quakes. But something tells me this isn't the end of it.
The part that hurts the most...the earthquakes have affected the parmigiano reggiano industry. Time to stock up.
"This fire is out of control, I'm going to burn this city"
I took a quick look from my balcony a little while later. It was a little hard to see everything from my altitude, but I could see that there firefighters inside the dumpster, shovelling through the charred debris, probably looking for the cause of the fire. They had cordoned off half of the roundabout with caution tape. I guess I came home just in time to see the exciting part and avoid the inconvenient part.
A week ago, a story in the news caught my eye. An earthquake had hit northern Italy. Upon closer inspection, I found out that the epicenter was just 40 km north of Bologna. It was a magnitude 6.0 quake, strong enough to be felt as far away as Venice and Milan. My first thought was of the people I had met when I was there a year and a half ago. The photos of the collapsed buildings were in smaller towns to the north, so I figured that the ones in Bologna were probably okay. It was still sad to see centuries-old building reduced to rubble so quickly. The one of the clock tower with only half a clock still standing affected me the most.
I woke this morning to hear on the radio that another earthquake of similar strength had hit the same area again yesterday. This time, more buildings collapsed, likely because the first one weakened their structures, and more people died, sadly because they had chosen that exact moment to enter damaged buildings to retrieve belongings or to assess the damage. When I saw that schools in Bologna had to be evacuated for safety, I decided I had to check and see if the people from our equipment vendor were okay. After all, their facility is up in the hills. I sent an e-mail to a couple of them to ask how they were doing. I received a reply pretty quickly from one of them, saying that they were all pretty scared but everyone was okay. That was reassuring to hear. They're the nicest people, and I came to feel at home in Bologna when I was there. I'm hoping that none of the amazing architecture was affected by the quakes. But something tells me this isn't the end of it.
The part that hurts the most...the earthquakes have affected the parmigiano reggiano industry. Time to stock up.
"This fire is out of control, I'm going to burn this city"
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Small Thrills
As my regular blog readers will know, I've had my fair share of celebrity encounters during the film festival in the fall. My brushes with fame have been told and retold a number of times. At the children and youth film festival that occurs in the spring, there are considerably fewer opportunities for thrilling encounters. Except this year. Well, let's call them small thrills.
There was a very specific demographic of the volunteers who even knew who the Polkaroo was. Most of the older folks had no idea, other than the fact that he was on a TVO program. But even I was kind of surprised how many times I had to explain who he was. I thought for sure their children or grandchildren watched "Polka Dot Door". I was even more surprised of how I felt when I saw him. I was a kid again. It was nice that the children were excited to see him too.
The new youth film festival that was spun off from the children's festival started this year and, in my opinion, was not quite as popular. To say that the audience traffic was slow is somewhat of an overstatement. It was almost non-existent. Unfortunately, that makes the hours seem a lot longer. But on the other hand, that may have been the reason why I noticed Matthew Lillard when he entered the building. He was with another guy and the two of them took a look around and went into the gift shop and browsed for a bit. He was wearing a baseball hat and glasses and looked very much like any other person. He had directed "Fat Kid Rules the World", which was the closing night film for the festival, and which had won the audience award at SXSW this year. My guess was that he was scoping out the place and killing time before the screening later in the evening, where he was scheduled to do the Q&A. My other guess was that the guy he was with was probably the star of the film, not because of his size (okay...maybe because of his size) but also because I knew the star was supposed to be at the screening as well. He walked right past me on his way out but didn't look at me. I have to say, he looks a lot thinner than he did in "The Descendants".
"All the, small things, true care, truth brings"
There was a very specific demographic of the volunteers who even knew who the Polkaroo was. Most of the older folks had no idea, other than the fact that he was on a TVO program. But even I was kind of surprised how many times I had to explain who he was. I thought for sure their children or grandchildren watched "Polka Dot Door". I was even more surprised of how I felt when I saw him. I was a kid again. It was nice that the children were excited to see him too.
The new youth film festival that was spun off from the children's festival started this year and, in my opinion, was not quite as popular. To say that the audience traffic was slow is somewhat of an overstatement. It was almost non-existent. Unfortunately, that makes the hours seem a lot longer. But on the other hand, that may have been the reason why I noticed Matthew Lillard when he entered the building. He was with another guy and the two of them took a look around and went into the gift shop and browsed for a bit. He was wearing a baseball hat and glasses and looked very much like any other person. He had directed "Fat Kid Rules the World", which was the closing night film for the festival, and which had won the audience award at SXSW this year. My guess was that he was scoping out the place and killing time before the screening later in the evening, where he was scheduled to do the Q&A. My other guess was that the guy he was with was probably the star of the film, not because of his size (okay...maybe because of his size) but also because I knew the star was supposed to be at the screening as well. He walked right past me on his way out but didn't look at me. I have to say, he looks a lot thinner than he did in "The Descendants".
"All the, small things, true care, truth brings"
Monday, May 07, 2012
'Cause You Can't, You Won't, And You Don't Stop
I'm really not sure why I'm having such a reaction to the death of Adam Yauch. I don't think it's related to the recent experiences I've had. And I'm fairly sure that I'm not the biggest Beastie Boys fan in the world. But something about this tragedy has really struck me.
My first and most vivid memory of being influenced by the Beastie Boys happened in Grade 6. Of course, by this time they were well known and well established. "Licensed to Ill" had been released for four years already. We were sitting in the classroom, working away (thankfully not in silence), when suddenly and out of nowhere, I started singing the chorus to "Fight For Your Right (To Party)". I honestly to this day have no idea where this came from. The classmate sitting in front of me turned around slowly and gave me the strangest look. At that point I had realized what I was doing, apologized, and went back to work. It wasn't until she looked at me that I even knew that I had done it.
I guess that was when I figured out that music was influencing me without me even being aware of it. From that moment on, I started having a more expanded taste in music. I, of all people, became a grunge girl, wearing flannel and listening to Nirvana and Soundgarden. But that didn't stop me from occasionally singing along to the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls either. Sarah McLachlan became one of my musical icons, along with other future Lilith Fair acts, like Tori Amos and Jewel. I still had classical roots from my piano upbringing, and I was at least aware of the east coast-west coast hip-hop rivalry.
So, maybe it was the Beasties that started me on my musical journey. Because it's hard to remember what I was listening to before that day in the classroom.
RIP MCA.
"I can't stand it, I know you planned it"
My first and most vivid memory of being influenced by the Beastie Boys happened in Grade 6. Of course, by this time they were well known and well established. "Licensed to Ill" had been released for four years already. We were sitting in the classroom, working away (thankfully not in silence), when suddenly and out of nowhere, I started singing the chorus to "Fight For Your Right (To Party)". I honestly to this day have no idea where this came from. The classmate sitting in front of me turned around slowly and gave me the strangest look. At that point I had realized what I was doing, apologized, and went back to work. It wasn't until she looked at me that I even knew that I had done it.
I guess that was when I figured out that music was influencing me without me even being aware of it. From that moment on, I started having a more expanded taste in music. I, of all people, became a grunge girl, wearing flannel and listening to Nirvana and Soundgarden. But that didn't stop me from occasionally singing along to the Backstreet Boys or the Spice Girls either. Sarah McLachlan became one of my musical icons, along with other future Lilith Fair acts, like Tori Amos and Jewel. I still had classical roots from my piano upbringing, and I was at least aware of the east coast-west coast hip-hop rivalry.
So, maybe it was the Beasties that started me on my musical journey. Because it's hard to remember what I was listening to before that day in the classroom.
RIP MCA.
"I can't stand it, I know you planned it"
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Emotional Teeter-Totter
Most people describe a particularly difficult period in their lives as an emotional roller coaster. I can understand that, given that roller coasters take you in different directions, usually rather quickly, and can be pretty terrifying for some. But if you think about it, you're also very well strapped in to a roller coaster. I've recently experienced something more like an emotional teeter-totter: there were two directions (up and down), and I could have potentially fallen off at any moment.
Last Friday, after another gruelling week at work, there was an issue with one of my many projects. As usual, it happened at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I ended up staying late to see if there was a way to rectify the situation. Thankfully, the mechanic pulled it off and we were able to continue packaging the product. Just as I was about to leave the production floor, the shift lead came up and told me about a different issue with a different product. My high from solving the first problem was short lived. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about the second issue because nobody was around to sign off on the paperwork. So we left that one for the following week, and I went to pack up my desk to go home.
I was in the process of shutting off my computer when I received an e-mail from my dad. He was writing to inform me, my brothers and cousins, and a number of family friends that one of the aunties had passed away on Wednesday. She was someone I had known my whole life, and who was one of my mother's regular mah jong partners. My sudden outpouring of tears surprised me, and I was glad that nobody was in the office to see me lose it. I knew that she had suffered a stroke earlier in the week because she and her husband were supposed to go to a show with my parents on the weekend. I had no idea the stroke had been so bad. But I also knew that she had a pre-existing heart condition and that she had a pacemaker.
I took a deep breath and left the office. Once I got home, I called my parents' house and my dad answered. He told me that the best guess they had was a blood clot must have formed somewhere and travelled up to her brain. Since she was already on blood thinners, there was nothing more they could do. She was the nicest person, and one of my mom's best friends. I asked how my mom was and, after a pause, my dad said that she was working through it. The visitation would be on the following Friday evening, and the funeral would be on Saturday morning. I said I would be there for sure. My dad said I didn't have to go, but this was an auntie that I had seen more often through the years than some of my actual blood relatives.
I made it through this week without thinking about it too much. When the usual question of "what are you doing this weekend?" came around, I would tell a little bit of the story. I left work yesterday and went straight to my parents' house. We, along with one of my dad's high school friends, drove to the cemetery where the visitation was being held. My mother looked tired, and she said she hadn't slept well for the past week. Once we got to the room, we went up to the casket to pay our respects. That's when my mom burst uncontrollably into tears. I've learned that if there's one thing I can't stand, it's to see my mother cry. I started to lose it as well, so I just guided her over to a chair and sat her down. We spent the visitation chatting with people, most of whom were my dad's high school friends (my dad and the auntie's older sister were in the same class) or my mom's mah jong friends. When it was time to go, my family and a few others decided to go to a nearby popular chinese restaurant for a snack.
They were surprised to see the restaurant so crowded at that hour. I had to remind them that it was a Friday night. We waited for a couple of minutes before we were seated. As we were lead to the table, I glanced around quickly and almost immediately saw my ex-boyfriend. And of course, as my luck would have it, we were being seated at the table right next to his. I've got to tell you, I was just about to fall off the teeter-totter right there. I really didn't have the strength to deal with this kind of thing at that moment. But I just plowed forward with my head down, and it seemed like he hadn't noticed me. He was sitting with a large group of people, and from what I could tell they were celebrating something so I hoped he was sufficiently distracted. I sat through the meal without eating much and without looking up unless I had to. Nobody questioned my somewhat depressed mood, assuming I was affected by the current situation. I'm glad the universe decided to cut me some slack. In the end, I made it out of the restaurant without anyone noticing anybody.
I'll bet you just read that last paragraph and asked yourself, "What??" Those who know will know, but for those who don't, it will be a story for another time.
This morning, we went back to the cemetery and attended the funeral service. Watching my uncle and his daughter and the rest of their family, I couldn't help but become as emotional as everyone around me. But by the time I was watching my auntie being lowered into the ground, there was a calm peace in me. I've watched many a person being buried, like my grandparents, and this seems to happen each time.
At the customary lunch that followed, my mother became even more upset near the end, but mostly because the atmosphere had become far most festive than she would have liked. People were laughing loudly, especially at the younger table. She said that it sounded more like a wedding dinner than a reception after a funeral. I know that she lost someone important to her, and I assured her that everyone there felt it too. But I asked her, would you rather have everyone sit around the tables and cry, or would you rather we all chat and comfort each other with a laugh or two?
But after a while, I started to think that they did get a little too loud.
"This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me"
Last Friday, after another gruelling week at work, there was an issue with one of my many projects. As usual, it happened at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I ended up staying late to see if there was a way to rectify the situation. Thankfully, the mechanic pulled it off and we were able to continue packaging the product. Just as I was about to leave the production floor, the shift lead came up and told me about a different issue with a different product. My high from solving the first problem was short lived. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about the second issue because nobody was around to sign off on the paperwork. So we left that one for the following week, and I went to pack up my desk to go home.
I was in the process of shutting off my computer when I received an e-mail from my dad. He was writing to inform me, my brothers and cousins, and a number of family friends that one of the aunties had passed away on Wednesday. She was someone I had known my whole life, and who was one of my mother's regular mah jong partners. My sudden outpouring of tears surprised me, and I was glad that nobody was in the office to see me lose it. I knew that she had suffered a stroke earlier in the week because she and her husband were supposed to go to a show with my parents on the weekend. I had no idea the stroke had been so bad. But I also knew that she had a pre-existing heart condition and that she had a pacemaker.
I took a deep breath and left the office. Once I got home, I called my parents' house and my dad answered. He told me that the best guess they had was a blood clot must have formed somewhere and travelled up to her brain. Since she was already on blood thinners, there was nothing more they could do. She was the nicest person, and one of my mom's best friends. I asked how my mom was and, after a pause, my dad said that she was working through it. The visitation would be on the following Friday evening, and the funeral would be on Saturday morning. I said I would be there for sure. My dad said I didn't have to go, but this was an auntie that I had seen more often through the years than some of my actual blood relatives.
I made it through this week without thinking about it too much. When the usual question of "what are you doing this weekend?" came around, I would tell a little bit of the story. I left work yesterday and went straight to my parents' house. We, along with one of my dad's high school friends, drove to the cemetery where the visitation was being held. My mother looked tired, and she said she hadn't slept well for the past week. Once we got to the room, we went up to the casket to pay our respects. That's when my mom burst uncontrollably into tears. I've learned that if there's one thing I can't stand, it's to see my mother cry. I started to lose it as well, so I just guided her over to a chair and sat her down. We spent the visitation chatting with people, most of whom were my dad's high school friends (my dad and the auntie's older sister were in the same class) or my mom's mah jong friends. When it was time to go, my family and a few others decided to go to a nearby popular chinese restaurant for a snack.
They were surprised to see the restaurant so crowded at that hour. I had to remind them that it was a Friday night. We waited for a couple of minutes before we were seated. As we were lead to the table, I glanced around quickly and almost immediately saw my ex-boyfriend. And of course, as my luck would have it, we were being seated at the table right next to his. I've got to tell you, I was just about to fall off the teeter-totter right there. I really didn't have the strength to deal with this kind of thing at that moment. But I just plowed forward with my head down, and it seemed like he hadn't noticed me. He was sitting with a large group of people, and from what I could tell they were celebrating something so I hoped he was sufficiently distracted. I sat through the meal without eating much and without looking up unless I had to. Nobody questioned my somewhat depressed mood, assuming I was affected by the current situation. I'm glad the universe decided to cut me some slack. In the end, I made it out of the restaurant without anyone noticing anybody.
I'll bet you just read that last paragraph and asked yourself, "What??" Those who know will know, but for those who don't, it will be a story for another time.
This morning, we went back to the cemetery and attended the funeral service. Watching my uncle and his daughter and the rest of their family, I couldn't help but become as emotional as everyone around me. But by the time I was watching my auntie being lowered into the ground, there was a calm peace in me. I've watched many a person being buried, like my grandparents, and this seems to happen each time.
At the customary lunch that followed, my mother became even more upset near the end, but mostly because the atmosphere had become far most festive than she would have liked. People were laughing loudly, especially at the younger table. She said that it sounded more like a wedding dinner than a reception after a funeral. I know that she lost someone important to her, and I assured her that everyone there felt it too. But I asked her, would you rather have everyone sit around the tables and cry, or would you rather we all chat and comfort each other with a laugh or two?
But after a while, I started to think that they did get a little too loud.
"This is the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me"
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Moving On
As I write this, my baby brother is winging his way to the other side of the world.
After a rather fruitless search for a job here, he decided he would pick up and move to Hong Kong and try his luck there. He doesn't have anything lined up. He doesn't really have a plan. He's just going.
Needless to say, my mother didn't really take it well. Actually, the story is that when this idea was floated to my father several months ago, in a hypothetical way, my dad made the mistake of mentioning it to my mother. She started to cry. That was the end of that.
When my brother decided to go forward with the idea, it was agreed that my mother would not be informed. At least, not until the day before he was going to leave. Funnily enough, we were all okay with this plan. I know most of the people who have already heard this story were kind of appalled at this. However, my mother solved the problem by backing herself into a corner. About a month ago, she mentioned to my dad that my brother seemed to be having a really difficult time finding a job, and maybe it would be a good idea to look in other places. My dad took the cue and told her not to worry, he'd already done that and was going to Hong Kong. I wasn't there, but I heard it wasn't pretty. However, there was nothing she could say, after all it was her own idea.
As today drew closer, I think she got herself into an acceptance/denial mode. She figured out that she couldn't do anything about him leaving. But somehow she got it into her head that he wouldn't be able to find anything there either and would be home within 3 months or so. Whatever helps.
So now he's on his way to his new adventure. But of course there has to be some irony in here somewhere. In this case, my brother told me yesterday that one of the local prospects that he had given up on a while ago called him up earlier this week and asked if he'd be interested in having an interview. All he could say was, were they willing to do it by phone?
Don't tell my mother.
"Homes, places we've grown, all of us are done for, but we live in a beautiful world"
After a rather fruitless search for a job here, he decided he would pick up and move to Hong Kong and try his luck there. He doesn't have anything lined up. He doesn't really have a plan. He's just going.
Needless to say, my mother didn't really take it well. Actually, the story is that when this idea was floated to my father several months ago, in a hypothetical way, my dad made the mistake of mentioning it to my mother. She started to cry. That was the end of that.
When my brother decided to go forward with the idea, it was agreed that my mother would not be informed. At least, not until the day before he was going to leave. Funnily enough, we were all okay with this plan. I know most of the people who have already heard this story were kind of appalled at this. However, my mother solved the problem by backing herself into a corner. About a month ago, she mentioned to my dad that my brother seemed to be having a really difficult time finding a job, and maybe it would be a good idea to look in other places. My dad took the cue and told her not to worry, he'd already done that and was going to Hong Kong. I wasn't there, but I heard it wasn't pretty. However, there was nothing she could say, after all it was her own idea.
As today drew closer, I think she got herself into an acceptance/denial mode. She figured out that she couldn't do anything about him leaving. But somehow she got it into her head that he wouldn't be able to find anything there either and would be home within 3 months or so. Whatever helps.
So now he's on his way to his new adventure. But of course there has to be some irony in here somewhere. In this case, my brother told me yesterday that one of the local prospects that he had given up on a while ago called him up earlier this week and asked if he'd be interested in having an interview. All he could say was, were they willing to do it by phone?
Don't tell my mother.
"Homes, places we've grown, all of us are done for, but we live in a beautiful world"
Monday, March 19, 2012
Call Me the Fact Checker
Or a stickler for accuracy. Yeah, that's probably it.
Today's birthday quiz on Entertainment Tonight asked "Which Canadian actress had a role on 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' Was it Elisha Cuthbert, Neve Campbell, or Rachel Blanchard?" (or words to that effect)
First of all, I can't think of that show without giggling. A guy from my high school starred in it for a while, and it was kind of hilarious. Anyway, I said Elisha Cuthbert, but the answer was Rachel Blanchard (she's 36! Holy crap!).
But something didn't sit right with me...
For the record, it was a trick question. ALL of them had a role on "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" Yay Can Con!
"In the day, in the night, say it right, say it all"
Today's birthday quiz on Entertainment Tonight asked "Which Canadian actress had a role on 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' Was it Elisha Cuthbert, Neve Campbell, or Rachel Blanchard?" (or words to that effect)
First of all, I can't think of that show without giggling. A guy from my high school starred in it for a while, and it was kind of hilarious. Anyway, I said Elisha Cuthbert, but the answer was Rachel Blanchard (she's 36! Holy crap!).
But something didn't sit right with me...
For the record, it was a trick question. ALL of them had a role on "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" Yay Can Con!
"In the day, in the night, say it right, say it all"
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Cloud City
One of the more interesting worlds in the original Star Wars trilogy for me was Cloud City. Pretty cool, living in the sky.
On Saturday morning, I woke up and looked out of my window. I didn't see anything. Not one thing except for the white cloud that I was suddenly living in. Okay, I could kind of make out the adjacent buildings, but the fog had never been this thick in the past. Nor had it ever lasted as long as it did. At one point in the day, the skies did clear and everything was normal. But then the fog rolled in again and again I was living in Cloud City. I stepped out on my balcony and I couldn't see anything below me. It was so eerie, hearing the traffic and other sounds around me but not seeing it.
Once darkness fell, it was even more creepy. The spotlights from my neighbouring condo lit the fog in a deep shade of grey. It was like looking out into a void. But I wasn't worried. My little box in the sky is sturdy. But the weather right now is ridiculous. (Where were you winter?? I miss you...)
"I don't wanna come back down from this cloud, it's taken me all this, all this time"
On Saturday morning, I woke up and looked out of my window. I didn't see anything. Not one thing except for the white cloud that I was suddenly living in. Okay, I could kind of make out the adjacent buildings, but the fog had never been this thick in the past. Nor had it ever lasted as long as it did. At one point in the day, the skies did clear and everything was normal. But then the fog rolled in again and again I was living in Cloud City. I stepped out on my balcony and I couldn't see anything below me. It was so eerie, hearing the traffic and other sounds around me but not seeing it.
Once darkness fell, it was even more creepy. The spotlights from my neighbouring condo lit the fog in a deep shade of grey. It was like looking out into a void. But I wasn't worried. My little box in the sky is sturdy. But the weather right now is ridiculous. (Where were you winter?? I miss you...)
"I don't wanna come back down from this cloud, it's taken me all this, all this time"
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Shopping Victory
I've had some personal shopping victories in the past. I've found a nice blouse for $10 or something, which is a great deal to be sure. But it seems like my best luck is with my friends' wedding dresses.
I've been helping a really good friend of mine to shop for her wedding dress. Her budget is a bit smaller than most, which is challenging. If she couldn't find her price, her alternative was to rent it, but we were going to try our best. She had a one-hour appointment at a boutique downtown on Friday, which allowed her to try on some different styles and we were able to really narrow down her likes and dislikes. But this was just the warm-up for Saturday, where she had an appointment at a sample sale.
Have you ever seen that episode of Friends when Monica brought the other girls to the wedding dress sample sale, and they all had whistles to draw the others if they found the one? Then Rachel ended up using it because she was being attacked by crazy brides? Yeah, I was all ready for that. Luckily, this was nothing like it, mostly because they controlled the number of women in the room, and there weren't as many dresses to choose from, and the place was a tiny Victorian house. Plus I guess it's because we're all Canadian, we kept excusing ourselves and apologizing as we squeezed around each other.
Our first strategy was to look for the style that she liked. We pulled some out and she got to trying them on. Meanwhile, I kept looking around. There was one that was really nice and she liked it, but it was pretty far outside of her price point. That's when I changed tack and realized I should look for her price point and see what was available. We found a few that were close but still not quite what she was looking for. Then I saw the Carolina Herrera dress that had almost everything she was looking for. And I saw the price. And I told her to try it on. And she really liked it. Then she saw the price and was incredulous. And that was it. Even the girl who was cashing her out couldn't believe it.
She paid roughly 9% of the original price of the dress, which was initially several thousands of dollars. The last time I helped a friend with a wedding dress, she also paid less than 10% of the original price. I may not have the haggling gene, but my deal finding skills are in top form. My mother would be so proud.
"Oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart, it goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun"
I've been helping a really good friend of mine to shop for her wedding dress. Her budget is a bit smaller than most, which is challenging. If she couldn't find her price, her alternative was to rent it, but we were going to try our best. She had a one-hour appointment at a boutique downtown on Friday, which allowed her to try on some different styles and we were able to really narrow down her likes and dislikes. But this was just the warm-up for Saturday, where she had an appointment at a sample sale.
Have you ever seen that episode of Friends when Monica brought the other girls to the wedding dress sample sale, and they all had whistles to draw the others if they found the one? Then Rachel ended up using it because she was being attacked by crazy brides? Yeah, I was all ready for that. Luckily, this was nothing like it, mostly because they controlled the number of women in the room, and there weren't as many dresses to choose from, and the place was a tiny Victorian house. Plus I guess it's because we're all Canadian, we kept excusing ourselves and apologizing as we squeezed around each other.
Our first strategy was to look for the style that she liked. We pulled some out and she got to trying them on. Meanwhile, I kept looking around. There was one that was really nice and she liked it, but it was pretty far outside of her price point. That's when I changed tack and realized I should look for her price point and see what was available. We found a few that were close but still not quite what she was looking for. Then I saw the Carolina Herrera dress that had almost everything she was looking for. And I saw the price. And I told her to try it on. And she really liked it. Then she saw the price and was incredulous. And that was it. Even the girl who was cashing her out couldn't believe it.
She paid roughly 9% of the original price of the dress, which was initially several thousands of dollars. The last time I helped a friend with a wedding dress, she also paid less than 10% of the original price. I may not have the haggling gene, but my deal finding skills are in top form. My mother would be so proud.
"Oh, this is how it starts, lightning strikes the heart, it goes off like a gun, brighter than the sun"