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Terpsichore
Art: Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766)
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Anyone up for a ride this morning? I need to be back by noon. G
George/Pat,
Sorry can't make it this morning but maybe tomorrow. White frost on the roof! Ray
"saw Stanford from Sex & the City at lunch..."
"Poppa, you have no connection to a series that resonated with millions of women therefore a Stanford sighting is drivel to you...but to many, it is not. Facebook is for fun in my opinion, if you want edgier content might I suggest BBC or CBC?"
"saw Stanford from Sex & the City at lunch..."
"Poppa, you have no connection to a series that resonated with millions of women therefore a Stanford sighting is drivel to you...but to many, it is not. Facebook is for fun in my opinion, if you want edgier content might I suggest BBC or CBC?"
Cowardy Cowardy Custard!
You have way too much time on your hands
Due to the fact that I don't waste my time watching pre-masticated pap
served, endlessly, to the drooling fans of Stanford and the like!
Cyber bullying is not nice
Articulate dialogue does not equate to cyber bullying. Reading about
mindless, unexamined activity, without commenting, critically, (ie.,
with some sort of underlying analysis), is an abdication of personal
responsibility and I will not be bullied, Dear Arbiter of What is Right
and Wrong with respect to Facebook Etiquette, into refraining from
speaking my considered thoughts.
I am going to sign you up for a Seniors debate team
Hi Long Lost Lads!
Trust everyone is well. I'm up for a ride tomorrow so let me know time and place!
Sorry I've not been in touch but VIFF and other activities have kept me fairly busy since last we rode to Iona/UBC last Thursday. Lurchesca was here, if only for the evening/overnight, as she had to see her dentist and do all sorts of other "city" errands. She brought two lovely bottles of wine for dinner, [Had had one of the bottles, (not sure if it was the same vintage, of course), at a tiny spot, just around the corner from our appartmento, in Paris, in 2010], and we enjoyed some wonderful tastings just before we left Madroña Manor, once Grogg unlocked his wine cellar!
On Thursday I saw a wonderful film at VIFF, Museum Hours, Austria/USA, (Had to put up a number of posters about half-way into film but didn't miss but a few minutes.), a simply fascinating story about two people, museum guard, Johann, (Bobby Sommer), and Anne, (Canadian music legend Mary Margaret O'Hara!), who meet in the Breughel room of Vienna's Kunsthistoriches Art Museum.
Overall, a truly remarkable film which
explores how art shapes and reflects daily experience, and more, much
more, of course. In one startling scene, to say the least, we watch a
number of visitors as they view various paintings. The camera moves from
details depicted in the works to the viewers themselves and then back
to more close-ups, etc. Then, when a number of particular "viewers" are
next seen, they are naked, as if we, the audience, possess X-ray vision.
The line, of course, between the naked nymphs, cherubs, and bare
chested warriors depicted in the breathtaking or gruesome paintings, is
blurred, erased, so we must question what is real, what is artifice. A
highly provoctive yet immensely effective device, given the context, I
must say.
As I think I might have mentioned during the course of Thursday's ride, on Saturday Chloë and I had to take Maggster to the SPCA for a check-up. We were worried about her teeth and her stomach as she had been sick to her stomach a number of times over last few months. In fact, everything went well from the very beginning. Didn't have too, too much trouble getting her into the carrier cage. Was more concerned about that than almost anything else! She can be pretty vicious when unhappy, as I'm sure you know! Anyway, vet said she was pretty healthy and only suggested we try a special diet to help reduce plaque build-up on her teeth. Couldn't believe how relaxed she was while being examined! Poor Chloë was probably more nervous than Maggie as she ended up spilling quite a bit of the container of crunchies she'd brought along to try to take The Devil Cat's attention off what was happening around her. Lid wasn't on properly, I guess. Vet was completely unperturbed by spillage. Very, very pleasant, friendly chap.
Then, once out in the waiting area to have detailed report, Chloë knocked over a plastic picture frame containing snap of a cat up for adoption, while attempting to put a donation in the jar beside the picture. The ensuing fall broke one corner of the frame. Coincidentally, just that morning I had put together almost a box of similar frames when I had removed the pictures, originally displayed in Mom's room at Broadway Lodge, ones I wanted to use for the Memorial. Anyway, will drop most of them off at the SPCA next time I'm by there.
Then, spent quite a bit of the afternoon with Flash, at his studio, but a block from Gourmet Warehouse, near Hastings and Clark Drive, working on the program/order of service for Mom's Memorial. He is such a wizard with scanning pictures I provided and Photoshop that he was able to produce what we think is a very fitting and appropriate document. I'll send along a copy once we've met with minister to confirm some of the items in the service. I stopped at Legacy, in Olympic Village, on way home, (I was on my bike as it was another glorious day.), and picked up a bottle of 15 year old Mortlach, Speyside, 43%, for Flash as but a small thank-you for all his incredible work. I've not seen Mortlach in years so was delighted to find it on the shelf this time. Picked up a bottle for myself so am looking forward to a snortl!
That evening had a wonderful dinner, along with Flamin' and Sarge, at the home of Brenda and Dave, curling mates. They are from Winnipeg, originally, and Brenda was head of HR at VPL for a number of years, which is where she and Cora Lee first met. They live on 1st near Collingwood so we didn't have far to go.
On Monday I picked up my friend Imre, from St Paul's, where he'd been for over a week, for pain management. Looks like he will be moving to a hospice in next little while as he simply cannot manage alone anymore, even with outside help for shopping, cleaning and some meal preparation. At any rate, Cora lee came with me, about noon, and she stayed in the car, (not much parking around the hospital), while I fetched Jim from the ward. Once we were back we dropped her off at VPL as she had work to do for Friends of VPL and then I took Imre home, 5th and Alma. Once he was settled I did a few errands, (dry cleaning, Safeway for fuzzy water/milk and to collect a prize, a KitKat, I'd won on one of their scratch and win promos, only time I've ever won!
Back home to have a bite to eat and suit up for a ride. Just before I was about to walk out the door, Kurt, one of our neighbours, and chap we were talking with about renting his house in Panama for January/February, knocked on the door to ask if we were definite about traveling to Panama. A friend there wishes to rent the house for a year but since he had tentatively promised it to us he wanted to make sure we still wanted to take him up on the offer. Funnily enough, earlier that morning I had 'quizzed" The Sisterhood, (Can one use a collective noun to describe an individual?), about whether she could really afford the trip, given our house exchange next summer, and then her planned two weeks in Rome, afterwards, with her Book Club. At any rate, I received a qualified, "Well, I guess it would be better for my finances if we didn't go.", but not a definite "Yes" or "No"! Given Kurt's situation I told him that he should take the offer of the rental for a year.
Some options remain open, however. In the first instance, I don't know
if staying in one spot is the best idea in Panama, unlike Mexico with
the house in Guayabitos. Panama is a much smaller country and Kurt
suggested that spending a week or so in five or six
of the quite different parts of the country is perhaps a more
interesting holiday, traveling by local buses which apparently are fine.
This does not address the question of "affordability" of course but it
might be something to think about at a future date.
At any rate, things may change between now and when we return from LA
so stay tuned! Mexico is yet another possibility. Barb and Lynn, (when
they visited us in Parksville), mentioned we would be welcome to stay
with them. If we did do something like that,
it would probably be for not more than two weeks but that could change
as well!
After Kurt left, I went out for my first long ride since last Thursday. Headed out to UBC, via Spanish Banks and followed one of my usual routes around the university and environs to end up with 72.1K, AVG 19.7kph, so I was quite pleased. Very little wind and the water of English Bay was as smooth a a mirror when I was homeward bound. Cora Lee made a wonderful corn pasta with chicken topping, dressed with home-made pesto sauce and pine nuts. She used fresh basil from the plant she purchased at the market in Penticton when we were there on our way back from Winnipeg. She'll be baking bread, [perhaps she can share some of your recipes?], making her own greeting cards and sewing her own dresses, a la ex-con, now rehabilitated con artist, Martha Stewart "Super Housewife/Über Spender", soon!!!
Saw five remarkable films
yesterday. My Father and The Man in Black: Saul Hollif, [from London,
Ontario,of all places!], was Johnny Cash's long-time agent and Jonathon,
his eldest son produced this incredible documentary as an investigation
of his father's life and that of the star who dominated it for years;
Dom: A Russian Family: four generations of of the Shamanov family
assemble in their rambling farmhouse on the Russian steppe to celebrate
their patriarch's 100th birthday but are to busy feuding amongst
themselves to notice armed strangers circling their property. Reservoir
Dogs meets Pulp Fiction; The Flat: Arnon Goldfinger, the documentary
filmmaker, along with his family, have the task of clearing out the Tel
Aviv apartment which his grandmother, Gerda Tuchler, and her husband,
lived in, for nearly 60 years, since immigrating to Palestine from Nazi
Germany in the 1930's. Letters, documents and photographs lead Arnon to
wonder why his grandparents remained extremely close friends with a
member of the SS, a Baron von Mildenstein, and his wife, even after the
end of the war and loss of relatives in the Holocaust; Helpless: Munho, a
young veterinarian, is driving his fiancée, Seonyeong, to meet his
father when she disappears at a motorway stop. He enlists his cousin,
Jonggeun, a former cop who has left the force "under a cloud", to help
find the missing woman but the closer they get the more elusive she
becomes. Old deaths as possible murders eventually lead to horrifying
conclusions; Love Is All You Need: after so much drinking and
depression, murder and mayhem, it was a delight to watch Ida, Trine
Dyrholm, a cancer survivor now weathering her husband's infidelity, spar
with Philip, (Pierce Brosnan), a widower/workaholic fruit-and-vegetable
mogul, [last bit sounds like Robo Ray!], as they are forced together,
in sunny Sorrento, to attend the wedding of his son and her daughter.
Trine plays Ida so wonderfully that her forthright remarks simply make
one to laugh out loud whenever she utters a word. Pierce is as good with
his sadness and vulnerability and their chemistry together is both
delightfully funny and moving. An intelligent, perceptive script make it
more than a romantic comedy.
This morning I was able to obtain one of the last seats availbale for Nuala, the documentary made by her longtime friend Mariane Finucane. I read Are You Somebody, O'Faolian's memoir, a number of years ago, and was struck by the power and uncompromising nature of her work. I must say that you should try to see this film, (It was announced, prior to the screening, that it will be shown again, both during and after the festival.), as it raw and vivid testimony to a contradictory life, literally right up until the moment of this Irish writer's death. The fact that she spoke so openly and frankly about her impending death is, in itself, rather remarkable. Viewing it, so soon after my Mother's death, it had even more resonance, as I'm sure you can appreciate. Interestingly enough, one of the things that struck me most forcefully was the father figure in both this film and in Hollif's, (and now that I think about it), in The Man Nobody Knew: In search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby, by his son Carl, which I saw at VIFF last year. See them all!
Next
up was A Royal Affair and this historical drama shows how a passionate
and forbidden romance actually changed the course of Danish history, for
the better, eventually! Although but a minor part, Trine Dyrholm is
fearsome as the Dowager Queen. This
film introduces us to the fascinating tragedy of the love affair in the
1770s between
England's Caroline, wife of the problematic Danish King Christian, and
the king's German physician, Johann Struensee, both dedicated social
progressives. This struggle between a conservative, repressive regime
and representatives of the Enlightenment preceded the French Revolution
and is a spell-binding portrait of late 18th-century life. After that I
watched Parabeton-Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete, a film without
dialogue which examines many of Rome's celebrated ancient buildings
alongside the modern structures, (warehouses, factories, sports
complexes, etc.), designed by the acknowledged master of reinforced
concrete. Interesting but certainly not anywhere as riveting as all the
above!
Hi Raymondo and Giorgio!
I'm fine with 11:45am, Raymond. Let me know if you might be interested in a jaunt to Horseshoe Bay. What about you, Giggster? Cheers, Il Conduttore!
My wife and I always stay at Deborah's place when holidaying in Toronto. It is a "clean, well-lighted place", conveniently located, within easy walking distance of public transport, grocery stores and a public library. A pleasant walk down tree-lined streets takes you to Little Italy with its myriad restaurants, bars and cafes. The house itself is very comfortable and very nicely appointed. One word of caution: make sure you obtain a parking permit, (Can be done online.), for on-street parking as a ticket will appear on your windscreen without one. Other than that, a great place to stay while exploring the city. Cheers, Patrizzio!
I am going to sign you up for a Seniors debate team
Trust everyone is well. I'm up for a ride tomorrow so let me know time and place!
Sorry I've not been in touch but VIFF and other activities have kept me fairly busy since last we rode to Iona/UBC last Thursday. Lurchesca was here, if only for the evening/overnight, as she had to see her dentist and do all sorts of other "city" errands. She brought two lovely bottles of wine for dinner, [Had had one of the bottles, (not sure if it was the same vintage, of course), at a tiny spot, just around the corner from our appartmento, in Paris, in 2010], and we enjoyed some wonderful tastings just before we left Madroña Manor, once Grogg unlocked his wine cellar!
On Thursday I saw a wonderful film at VIFF, Museum Hours, Austria/USA, (Had to put up a number of posters about half-way into film but didn't miss but a few minutes.), a simply fascinating story about two people, museum guard, Johann, (Bobby Sommer), and Anne, (Canadian music legend Mary Margaret O'Hara!), who meet in the Breughel room of Vienna's Kunsthistoriches Art Museum.
As I think I might have mentioned during the course of Thursday's ride, on Saturday Chloë and I had to take Maggster to the SPCA for a check-up. We were worried about her teeth and her stomach as she had been sick to her stomach a number of times over last few months. In fact, everything went well from the very beginning. Didn't have too, too much trouble getting her into the carrier cage. Was more concerned about that than almost anything else! She can be pretty vicious when unhappy, as I'm sure you know! Anyway, vet said she was pretty healthy and only suggested we try a special diet to help reduce plaque build-up on her teeth. Couldn't believe how relaxed she was while being examined! Poor Chloë was probably more nervous than Maggie as she ended up spilling quite a bit of the container of crunchies she'd brought along to try to take The Devil Cat's attention off what was happening around her. Lid wasn't on properly, I guess. Vet was completely unperturbed by spillage. Very, very pleasant, friendly chap.
Then, once out in the waiting area to have detailed report, Chloë knocked over a plastic picture frame containing snap of a cat up for adoption, while attempting to put a donation in the jar beside the picture. The ensuing fall broke one corner of the frame. Coincidentally, just that morning I had put together almost a box of similar frames when I had removed the pictures, originally displayed in Mom's room at Broadway Lodge, ones I wanted to use for the Memorial. Anyway, will drop most of them off at the SPCA next time I'm by there.
Then, spent quite a bit of the afternoon with Flash, at his studio, but a block from Gourmet Warehouse, near Hastings and Clark Drive, working on the program/order of service for Mom's Memorial. He is such a wizard with scanning pictures I provided and Photoshop that he was able to produce what we think is a very fitting and appropriate document. I'll send along a copy once we've met with minister to confirm some of the items in the service. I stopped at Legacy, in Olympic Village, on way home, (I was on my bike as it was another glorious day.), and picked up a bottle of 15 year old Mortlach, Speyside, 43%, for Flash as but a small thank-you for all his incredible work. I've not seen Mortlach in years so was delighted to find it on the shelf this time. Picked up a bottle for myself so am looking forward to a snortl!
That evening had a wonderful dinner, along with Flamin' and Sarge, at the home of Brenda and Dave, curling mates. They are from Winnipeg, originally, and Brenda was head of HR at VPL for a number of years, which is where she and Cora Lee first met. They live on 1st near Collingwood so we didn't have far to go.
On Monday I picked up my friend Imre, from St Paul's, where he'd been for over a week, for pain management. Looks like he will be moving to a hospice in next little while as he simply cannot manage alone anymore, even with outside help for shopping, cleaning and some meal preparation. At any rate, Cora lee came with me, about noon, and she stayed in the car, (not much parking around the hospital), while I fetched Jim from the ward. Once we were back we dropped her off at VPL as she had work to do for Friends of VPL and then I took Imre home, 5th and Alma. Once he was settled I did a few errands, (dry cleaning, Safeway for fuzzy water/milk and to collect a prize, a KitKat, I'd won on one of their scratch and win promos, only time I've ever won!
Back home to have a bite to eat and suit up for a ride. Just before I was about to walk out the door, Kurt, one of our neighbours, and chap we were talking with about renting his house in Panama for January/February, knocked on the door to ask if we were definite about traveling to Panama. A friend there wishes to rent the house for a year but since he had tentatively promised it to us he wanted to make sure we still wanted to take him up on the offer. Funnily enough, earlier that morning I had 'quizzed" The Sisterhood, (Can one use a collective noun to describe an individual?), about whether she could really afford the trip, given our house exchange next summer, and then her planned two weeks in Rome, afterwards, with her Book Club. At any rate, I received a qualified, "Well, I guess it would be better for my finances if we didn't go.", but not a definite "Yes" or "No"! Given Kurt's situation I told him that he should take the offer of the rental for a year.
After Kurt left, I went out for my first long ride since last Thursday. Headed out to UBC, via Spanish Banks and followed one of my usual routes around the university and environs to end up with 72.1K, AVG 19.7kph, so I was quite pleased. Very little wind and the water of English Bay was as smooth a a mirror when I was homeward bound. Cora Lee made a wonderful corn pasta with chicken topping, dressed with home-made pesto sauce and pine nuts. She used fresh basil from the plant she purchased at the market in Penticton when we were there on our way back from Winnipeg. She'll be baking bread, [perhaps she can share some of your recipes?], making her own greeting cards and sewing her own dresses, a la ex-con, now rehabilitated con artist, Martha Stewart "Super Housewife/Über Spender", soon!!!
This morning I was able to obtain one of the last seats availbale for Nuala, the documentary made by her longtime friend Mariane Finucane. I read Are You Somebody, O'Faolian's memoir, a number of years ago, and was struck by the power and uncompromising nature of her work. I must say that you should try to see this film, (It was announced, prior to the screening, that it will be shown again, both during and after the festival.), as it raw and vivid testimony to a contradictory life, literally right up until the moment of this Irish writer's death. The fact that she spoke so openly and frankly about her impending death is, in itself, rather remarkable. Viewing it, so soon after my Mother's death, it had even more resonance, as I'm sure you can appreciate. Interestingly enough, one of the things that struck me most forcefully was the father figure in both this film and in Hollif's, (and now that I think about it), in The Man Nobody Knew: In search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby, by his son Carl, which I saw at VIFF last year. See them all!
I'm fine with 11:45am, Raymond. Let me know if you might be interested in a jaunt to Horseshoe Bay. What about you, Giggster? Cheers, Il Conduttore!
Hello ,
Deborah
Sawyer is asking you to provide a reference that they can display
publicly on their Airbnb profile. Airbnb is a community marketplace for
accommodations that is built on trust and reputation. A reference from
you would really help build their reputation
with the community. Let them know if you have any questions.
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