The unfinished books of vacation

It’s not uncommon to have multiple books on the go. Different books for different occasions.

Essay collection for short bursts of reading
Novel for extended reading time
eBook or tablet for low-light conditions

On vacation, the effect only gets multiplied.

Audiobook for car trips
Innocuous book to avoid awkward whatchya reading? conversations when visiting
Travel books, because what better time to plan the next vacation than when on vacation?

But all this switching has the downside of no particular tome actually getting finished. Now I have at least three that I feel equally eager to complete, yet am no longer in the circumstances where I can plough through as much material.

In fact, other than Globe and Mails, sundry magazines, and a Kindle novella, the only book completed last week was the audio version of Muriel Spark’s 1961 novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I’d picked this up based on a Guardian article that said those “100 books you must read” lists were ridiculous, but here were five you really must read. This was one of the five.

It’s a fairly short book, but a very interestingly constructed story, moving back and forth in time, revealing more details in each pass. It tells of a teacher, in the prime of her life (as we are reminded repeatedly), whose unconventional teaching methods at a British schools for girls often has her at odds with the school administration. Miss Brodie doesn’t to just “teach to the test” (though she does emphasize the importance of passing the tests, so she can keep her job); she wants to inspire her girls to be creative and bold.

In one of her many controversial moves, Miss Brodie selects certain girls as her favorites based on their particular strengths, and primes them in particular to become the crème de la crème. She continues to meet and try to to influence them even when they are no longer in her class.

And one of them betrays her.

Jean complained that Miss Brodie was an irritating character, and she is. She’s charismatic, but not entirely and always sympathetic. There’s much to ponder on in the interplay of the characters. It would be a great book club book.

As for the unfinished…

I was intrigued by the premise of Will Ferguson’s novel, 419. It’s a suspense story built around the well-known Internet scam of the Nigerian prince who needs your help in getting his considerable fortune out of the country. And it takes off pretty quickly, with the investigation into the tragic end of one victim of the scam, interspersed with the point of view of the scammer in Nigeria.

But then it goes a bit weird, introducing more Nigerian characters who don’t seem to have anything to do with the rest: A young pregnant woman walking across the country, for some reason; a young man whose village is devastated by the oil companies. At first I was impatiently flip-reading through those parts, eager for the original story to return. Then I realized I’d be missing half the novel if I did that.

So I went back and read at a more normal pace, and eventually got caught up in those tales as well. I have about a quarter of the book left now, though, and I still have no idea how the two narratives relate to each.

But I am curious to find out.

On the essay / nonfiction front, we have American Savage, by Dan Savage, a gay man who writes a sex advice column (that I don’t think I’ve ever read). He’s also behind the It Gets Better campaign to support gay youth, and the redefinition of Rick Santorum’s last name. (Ahem.) This is a collection of essays on a variety of topics including relationships, politics, religion, and education.

I have found most of the pieces quite interesting, presenting facts I didn’t always know, and certainly making me look at some issues in a new way. Why we all probably know far more bisexuals than we think we do. (Psst: Because they’re passing as straight!) Halloween as a gay pride parade for straight people (and why that’s a good thing). The anti-man bias of most advice columns—because said columns are mostly read by women. And why that bias is bad for relationships.

His own life experiences often illuminate the arguments: How his mother reconciled being a devout Catholic with fully accepting her gay son, and why he himself can’t do the same. (Be a devout Catholic, that is. He does accept his sexuality. 🙂 The striking evidence, in his own lifetime, of how much things have gotten better for gay people—and how that happened.

Still up: “Still evil. Less evil. But still evil”, “It’s Happened Again”, and “Bigot Christmas”.

Sounds interesting.

And Fangirl, a novel by Rowell Rainbow, is what we started to listen to after Brodie was done. I was struck by how much this book grabbed and held my attention, in contrast to the classic novel, which sometimes caused my mind to wander.

Surprise, because I suppose this would be classified a Young Adult fiction? It’s the story of 18-year-old Cath, who goes off to college with twin sister Wren insisting that they not be roommates and try to be more independent of each other. Wren is very outgoing and friendly, while Cath is the opposite—almost pathologically introverted and anti-social. Needless to say, Cath has a bit of trouble adapting.

The Fangirl part comes from Cath’s hobby—really more an obsession—with writing slash fan fiction about two characters from a fictional but Harry Potter-like series of books: Simon and Baz.

That it was so engaging (for Jean as well) despite not exactly reflecting our current stage of life (and no, I don’t write fan fiction, either) is, I think, a testament to Rowel Rainbow’s ability to create really full-fledged, complex, believable characters: Cath’s fearless and intimidating roommate; her charming writing partner Nick; her creative but unstable father, and so on.

And while I’m actually not too worried about polishing off the two paper books fairly soon, we have 2.5 hours of listening left to Fangirl—and no imminent road trips! How are we going to get this one done?

Shopping spree in Orillia!

Last week’s vacation was mostly about visiting family and friends up north. But instead of just barreling our way straight through, we stopped in various Ontario towns on the way and back. Like in Orillia.

“Why Orillia?” That has been a common question.

First visited on a rock concert pilgrimage (Roger Daltrey performed at the Casino there in 2009), we just found we liked the town. Nice beaches, decent restaurants, good shopping.

“Shopping?”

OK, maybe we are the only people in the world who go to downtown Orillia for shopping. But let me tell you, we did a fine job boosting that town’s economy on our two days there.

First stop was this discount clothing store which sometimes has interesting items, for men and women. Jean didn’t have much luck for himself, this time. fortunately, he’s able—in limited doses!—to amuse himself finding things for me to try on.

I tried on more than I bought. But one Jean find that I came home with was this brown crochet sweater, as I’m forever looking for something to wear over sleeveless dresses and such that don’t ruin the whole line of the outfit.

brown-sweater — This should do the trick

We had gorgeous, hot weather in Orillia, but the rest of the vacation became rather cool, especially for August, so this sweater got some use on this trip. And some compliments.

Also acquired was this blue top, which looked a little odd on the hanger (my pick; Jean was dubious), but quite nice on a person.

Jean did better at the Walking on a Cloud shoe store (he likes shoes almost as much as socks. No, seriously.). And although I didn’t feel I really needed more shoes, apparently I can’t resist a Rieker. I had just bought these really cute navy blue Rieker sandals before vacation (with heels!); they are now joined by these little sparkly runners:

These are photographed with a red purse I also got at the first clothing store. I haven’t used it yet, though, because I’m still sporting this one (a local purchase) for the time being:

Another stop was our favorite kitchen store. Yes, we have a favorite Orillia kitchen store, as we told the confused clerk: “We come here every two years to replenish our pots!”

No photos, because, well, pots and pans, but we literally did buy a pot and a pan (both high-end; not your Canadian Tire job-y), plus sundry kitchen gadgets.

We then popped into a big warehouse-style discount store—of the sort we never go to in our own home town—because we were looking for cables that would help our tablets talk to the hotel TV. We bought that, but while there, we thought, hey, why not get that rug we’ve been meaning to get for ages, for the front of the fireplace?

So right, not an expensive rug. But it’s frankly mostly for the cats to sleep on (and potentially sharpen their nails on), and definitely better-looking than the towels we previously put there for them, so that’s OK. Zoë gave the new addition her stamp of approval almost as soon as we put it down at home:

Zoe the cat and fireplace — And by the way, we finally got our fireplace brick and frame finished.

And we also acquired various prosaic mats that we hope will help keep the litter residue in better check.

Worst thing? After dropping all this cash downtown, Orillia had the nerve to give us a parking ticket! Even after getting it, I was like, “Parking meter? Where is there is a parking meter?” But there was one… It was just well back from the sidewalk, very easy to miss.

But Orillia, we still like you. We were able to get to the beach and swim both days, for the first time this summer. We also found some nice walking trails. The restaurants were somewhat disappointing this time, though not to the extent that any of the meals were actually bad. Just unimaginative.

Just make your parking meters more visible, already. 🙂

Tapas at Haisai

Haisai, in the small town of Singhampton, is an unusual-looking restaurant.

When we drove up to it on Sunday, we weren’t even sure it was open. But the young guitarist outside confirmed that it was. And the fact that there was a young guitarist outside–in jeans, with a beard, and electric guitar–tells you something about the place as well.

Haisai has a strong focus on sustainable and natural food. You are given tap water there, not offered bottled. Both house wines are Ontario. Most of the ingredients are from the owner’s farm. I don’t know if it actually has an organic designation, but it’s certainly no factory farm, but just a small operation with pigs, chickens, vegetables, and fruit.

And, that owner / farmer also happens to be a world-reknowned chef, Michael Stadtlander. He’s no longer the chef at Haisai, however, but he does the guide the menu, which offers tapas-size dishes along with stone-oven pizza.

We went for four of the tapas plates: French bean salad with speck and mustard dressing, speck and Cheddar pierogi, vegetarian gyoza (dumplings), and roast pork on peach ravioli. (As you see, there is a lot “speck” on the menu. That is a delicious long-smoked pork.)

Not having been prepared by Michael Stadtlander, not everything tasted like a miracle in your mouth. But it was all very good, and the offerings were creative. And, not having been prepared by Michael Stadtlander, each dish was only $6 to $9. (The whole meal, with a glass of wine each, and dessert each, came to $75.)

Yet another picture of me in front of food

Speaking of desserts, Jean declared that my trio of ice creams was some of the best ice cream he’d ever had. I felt much the same. (I can’t remember all the flavors–lavendar, peach, another…?) His apple crumble with maple cream was perfectly acceptable too, though.

Haisai. It’s worth the drive to Singhampton.

A midsummer night’s dream

The original idea was to see King Lear. But instead we were drawn to the controversial Stratford production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Would we hate it–like the Toronto Star critic did? Or would we love it–like the Globe and Mail critic did?

Either way, it would certainly be cheerier than King Lear. (Which we may still see, in the fall. Although Stratford plays aren’t exactly cheap, are they?)

This production of Midsummer’s Night begins with a same-sex, mixed-race wedding, then presents the familiar Shakespeare play with the premise that Lysander is a woman, and hence not the suitor Hermia’s father prefers. I thought this was a rather effective retelling in our time, and interestingly, it was one thing that both Star and Globe critics appreciated as well.

It’s everything else that also gets thrown into this version of the play that the critics didn’t agree on. For example, that isn’t the only gender switching that goes on: most notable of the others is that the Fairy Queen is played by a gent, and a hairy one at that. And the play seems to be set (somewhat) in modern times, featuring modern pop music (most effectively, “Bizarre Love Triangle”) and a scene where the characters gather around a cell phone to look up the phases of the moon (though the answer is ultimately found in a paper almanac). And there is a whole lot of slapstick, physical humor: cake fights, slipping into water, almost-sex in a tent.

It’s certainly a memorable version of Midsummer Night’s Dream. And a funny one–especially the second half. I don’t know that I loved it quite as much as the Globe critic, but I most certainly didn’t hate it as much the Star one. Though if I have to pick between love it or hate it, as they say, then I’m going with love.

Continue reading “A midsummer night’s dream” →

Avocado for dessert

Wish I’d thought of it, but thought I could at least share it…

This dessert was quick, easy, and (for a dessert) pretty healthy…

Alternate slices of pear and avocado on a plate (about ½ each per person).
If you have them, add some sliced strawberry on the edges. (We can still get local strawberries.)
I think blueberries sprinkled on would be nice as an alternative.
Sprinkle each plate with about 1 Tbsp of blue cheese.
Pour a little port over each plate.
Grind on a bit of black pepper.

Avocado pear strawberry dessert — I didn’t stack the avocado and pear like this, but gives you the idea…

Sounds weird, but it was really quite delicious all together.

(Though keep in mind that I like all of those ingredients on their own as well. If you don’t… Your mileage on the taste front could vary.)

Blood donor

I first tried to donate blood many years ago, while in university. I succumbed to peer pressure and joined my friends on a campus blood drive. On checkin, I was asked how I was feeling.

Fine, I said, except for this stupid cold.

Dismissed! You can’t donate blood when you have a cold.

The second time, I was still in university, and this time not ill. I had, however, been particularly successful in battling my freshmen 15. In fact, I was so successful, I kept on dieting and exercising until I lost another 15, then another, then…

“How much do weigh?” I was asked on checkin.

“99 pounds!” I said proudly.

Dismissed! Too skinny to donate, apparently.

I’ve since, of course, long ago attained and stuck at at a much more sensible (higher) weight, but I made no further attempts to donate. I blamed blood tests, as I never found those much fun. They always seem to have trouble finding a vein; sometimes they’ve even had to make two attempts before succeeding. The needle feels uncomfortable in the vein the whole time it’s there [with pardon to needle-averse readers; but then, they would skip this one anyway, right?].

But I did volunteer for the Ontario Health Study, and as part of that, they asked me to give a blood sample. A few blood samples, really. And those tests were a breeze! Likely I just had a particularly talented nurse, but it did get me thinking maybe I should, finally, try that whole blood donation thing again.

I made an appointment online, and last week went for lifetime attempt 3 at donating blood.

It’s a bit a time-consuming process, though would have been faster if I’d known what I was doing. As I had made an appointment and it was a medical-ly kind of setting, I sat around waiting to be hailed by name until I realized it was more of a lineup situation, except with chairs. So a couple people arriving after me got in ahead. Then as a first-time donor, I had a bit more of a registration process to get in the system.

The first part of the fun is the finger-prick test to check my hemoglobin levels. Those turned out to be fine. Not dismissed!

I then had to fill in half of a questionnaire, largely focused on my general health, travel destinations, and current medications. Then do some more waiting to see another person, in a private room, to go over those questions and fill out the rest of the questionnaire—the more “delicate” questions about the sex life and the intravenous drug habits. She also took my blood pressure. Which turned out to be fine.

On the sex and drugs stuff, I noticed she was pretty much filling in the No boxes before I actually managed to get the denials out. What took longest was determining if the previous day’s migraine pill was an issue (it was not) and making a special note of the aspirin I had taken that day (not a disqualifier, but does require different blood treatment).

And, I got orange juice.

As a final step, you’re left alone in the room with a barcoded Yes or No sticker to affix to the form. This is to cover those cases where you don’t want to admit verbally that you shouldn’t be donating blood, but for some damn reason still want to go through with the procedure.

[One thing they never asked? How much I weighed. Is that no longer a thing, or is it just that I’m obviously no longer under 100 pounds?]

Then you actually lie back and donate blood. I think at least 45 minutes had already passed by then. Maybe more.

They did have a bit of trouble finding a vein (though did get it on the first attempt). And, the needle didn’t feel great in there. And it’s a bit ookey to see blood coming out of your arm into a tube.

But it wasn’t that bad. Jean, who’d kindly offered to drive me there, joined me at this point, as he had more than exhausted the possibilities of the small mall the clinic was in, by this point. The actual donating didn’t take that long. Afterward, you sit there about five minutes, then you get bandaged, then you go sit at another table for another 10 minutes or so and enjoy cookies and more orange juice. And that’s it.

The arm was a bit sore that night, but it didn’t last too long. I didn’t notice any particular lightheadedness or fatigue afterward.

Would I do it again? Well, I have 56 days to think about that…

Whatever happened to the shows of summer?

Actually, in the good/bad old days, there weren’t really “TV shows of summer”, were there? It was mostly rerun city. But more recently-ish (it is a trend over a decade long) networks have programs they play only in the summer season. And the specialty networks debut programs all year long.

These are three I’ve been particularly enjoying.

Amazing Race Canada

Modeled after the American one (which I also like), this is somewhat more “respectable” reality show—Emmy winning, and basically “just a race”, though with the producers definitely manipulating said race to produce drama, and obviously casting it with colourful people.

I appreciate the very multicultural nature of this year’s cast. And what a strong set of contenders! Except for the two sisters who were, indeed, eliminated the first show, everyone seems quite athletic and potentially capable of winning.

But I did come in with a bias toward Rex Harrington and his fiance Bob, because…. He’s Rex Harrington! Amazing dancer and great judge on So You Can Think Dance Canada.

They did well the first episode (and were so funny!), but in the second became mired in controversy: They gave up and took penalties on not one but two of the episode’s challenges. They only made it through because another contestant got injured and had to withdraw.

But surviving that round made they got to experience the surprising development of this year’s season: It’s no longer restricted to Canada! The teams were off to Hong Kong, with China up next.

I do hope Rex and Bob stick around for a while longer, but they certainly aren’t the smart bet to take it all. That would have to be the team made up of two members of Canada’s women’s gold medal hockey team, who have so far won every leg!

Fortunately, I also like them, as I basically like all the teams, really. I found that about Season 1 as well. That doesn’t tend to happen on the American one. Is likeability a Canadian trait? Bit early to say: Some of teams may get awful once the “killer fatigue” really sets in. TBD.

So You Think You Can Dance

The international travel budget shows that Amazing Race: Canada is a summer show on the rise. Now in its eleventh season, though, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance is definitely on the decline, struggling for ratings.

They have fewer shows than ever this year, so the audition footage was seriously compressed, and we didn’t get to “know” too many contestants ahead of time. They get only the single 2-hour performance show per week, during which they try to squish in everything, including guest stars. It’s meant no video recaps, no Dance for Your Life for the dancers in the bottom three. And their pre-emption for some baseball game meant that this coming week, they have to eliminate four instead of two dancers. Brutal!

What remains, though, is the what I’ve always loved about this program: Seeing wonderful dance pieces in a great variety of styles, performed by very talented young people who only get better each week.

For example, this hip-hop number from the last week. Can you tell that Tanisha is actually a ballroom dancer? Didn’t think so!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjxhKiLmtTI

Or how about this amazing group piece ( again kind of highlighting Tanisha) in the jazz / modern style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAPJsbtqy_8

I’d really be sad if this show was cancelled.

Silicon Valley

This is a bit of a cheat to include here, as it is being rerun, currently. But it’s new to me, and its premiere was only in April, so…

This is a comedy about a group of five guys running a startup company in Silicon Valley, and it’s the funniest shows I’ve seen a long time. Jean, however, is not warming to it as much, so perhaps you need some understanding of / interest in tech culture to really appreciate the satire. (Wired explained how Mike Judge went about trying to make it as “based in reality” as possible, down to the math on the white board. )

Now, it is on HBO, but if you do have some understanding of / interest in tech culture, you’re going to have no trouble watching this show even if you don’t get that channel. But if you just want a preview, there a lot of clips on YouTube.

This scene, in which they implement the “scrum” method of organizing their development work, is an example of one in which I almost died laughing, while Jean was just confused. [Warning: Colorful language. It’s HBO!]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsJoLvRbri0

Things we did in Toronto when not at a rock concert

Queen + Adam Lambert capped off our Toronto weekend, but before that, we….

1. Learned about sake

The Distillery District was our first destination (after checking into the hotel), where I happily shopped while Jean felt uncomfortable due to the crowds. (For a people person, he can be surprisingly squeamish about people.)

But we both enjoyed the one-hour sake tasting and tour we signed up for, at Ontario Spring Water Sake.

We had much to learn. I wasn’t even sure I remembered that it was made from rice, let alone what the other three ingredients were—one of which is Ontario water, though not from Toronto! And bacteria also plays an important role in the production, and since bacterial mix is always changing, so no two sake batches are ever quite the same.

We learned about the types of sake, notably pasteurized and unpasteurized, and “first press”, and about sake etiquette and its place in Japanese life. We were even treated to a beat boxing session at the end, as our guide does that on the side. He was very good!

We got to taste five samples, all notably different from one another for all being sake by the same company. Jean and I agree on our two favorites and bought a bottle of each.

2. Walked. A lot!

We were car-less in Toronto. We took the bus in, which itself involved a walk from our chosen parking lot to the Kitchener bus station. But except for some rain Sunday morning, it was nice weekend, so we just walked wherever we wanted to go rather than take transit. Jean figures we got in about 30 K in two days.

Buildings in Toronto — Things will be great when you’re downtown

Mall interior, Toronto — The malls are quiet at night

3. Visited the AGO

We spent a few hours there. We didn’t see the feature exhibit, on Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, but did see “Fan the Flames: Queer Positions in Photography.” That was installed, I assume, in coordination with the recent World Pride. It was an interesting collection, with combinations of video, collage collections, commercial photography, and work by artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe.

We also saw most of the “Art as Therapy”, where they gathered various pieces of the permanent collection under themes such as love, money, and politics. That made for some interesting juxtapositions as well.

4. Ate out

We had no bad meals in Toronto, but none were particularly spectacular, either. We decided to try Blowfish Sushi and Sake Bar based on a list that rated it the best sushi restaurant in downtown Toronto. While it was good, we didn’t agree that it was better than Ki, the supposed second-best one. But they did have some creativity in combinations and presentations.

Sushi platter — The truffle oil on these was nice. The garlic chip looked cool, but didn’t cohere as a taste. Better on its own…

Though we went here after the sake tasting, it was actually no help in picking one from the menu. (Not like they had any from Ontario Spring Water Sake company.) Fortunately the waitress was able to guide us toward one we enjoyed.

Breakfast, though very fine, is just breakfast, and was mainly notable for our managing to get a table just before the lineup for a table started, a feat we had also achieved on Saturday at Balzac’s coffee shop in The Distillery District.

Lunch was at Bangkok Garden, which was featuring a $15 three-course Summerlicious menu. It was very tasty, and a good deal, but mainly about the company, as we met up with my sister and brother-in-law there.

Dinner was another Summerlicious event, at Toula’s on Harbourfront, selected largely for being near the Air Canada Centre. It is a very cool room, though, on the 23rd floor, with windows all around.

It’s an Italian place, and we liked the food. Jean had lobster ravioli as his main; I had gnocchi in tomato sauce. The service was also quite friendly and professional. But the room itself was the highlight.

Queen + Adam Lambert, Air Canada Centre, Toronto – 13 July 2014

Most of my favorite musical acts are Serious Artists who come out with Concept Albums (Arcade Fire) or Rock Operas (The Who), who tackle serious issues (U2, Sting) and write deeply intelligent, complex lyrics (Elvis Costello), who explore deep emotion (Alanis Morissette, Tori Amos) or at least serious anger (Nirvana).

But my very favorite band, Queen, does none of that (or least, not very much). Though a bunch of seriously intelligent guys, they chose to write about love and lust and bicycle races and seasides and “having a good time, having a good time.”

So it’s fitting that their live show is basically an over-the-top, entertaining, fun fest.

Complete with lasers and disco balls.

“I didn’t know you were a fan of Adam Lambert” — someone at work, to me

So let me ask you. What do you think about the new guy? — Brian May, to Toronto crowd

I thought Adam Lambert was great. I’m not that surprised that I did, though. I first saw him perform with Queen on this iHeartRadio YouTube concert, and I was seriously impressed. Sunday night, he did not disappoint.

No, he doesn’t sound like Freddie. So he wisely doesn’t sing the songs as Freddie did. With May and Taylor (and Spike Edney, long-time tour keyboardist) providing the musical backbone, they’re recognizably the Queen songs we all know and love, but he gives them his own phrasing and pitch and emphasis. For example, even when he does a Freddie-like call and response, he doesn’t play on day-o sounds as Freddie did. Instead he gives an increasingly a funky play on the “need your loving” line from “Tie Your Mother Down”.

It was a variations on a theme like that, all night.

And doesn’t hurt that the boy’s voice is truly amazing in its own right. “Show Must Go On” is supposed to be his major showcase, and I have no complaints about his singing on that, but I was particularly blown away by his take on the gorgeous “Who Wants to Live Forever?” And unlike the old coots I usually go see, he’s only 31. He could and did confidently hit and hold every note he went for.

I also didn’t mind that he’s gorgeous, and that he changed his costume five times during the show. I think my favorite was this one, with the Daltry-esque fringes:

If one thing did surprise me, it was just how camp his performance was. Note the chaise lounge above, used during the performance of “Killer Queen”. He spent most of the song reclining on that, batting his eyes, and even fanning himself. It was hilarious and fantastic and so gay.

Adam Lambert fans himself on the couch — Image from Montreal concert, courtesy @Grrrr_girl

(I wondered briefly if this is more how Freddie would have performed had not felt inclined to be discrete about his personal life. Then I realized that was a stupid thing to think about man who wore ballet tights as a stage costume, and refused to shave his “gay” mustache no matter how many razors fans threw on-stage. Freddie clearly performed exactly how he wanted to perform.)

Edited to add this amazing video of “Somebody to Love” from this concert, by someone with way better seats than me.

Tell me you don’t love Adam Lambert after watching this…

On Roger Taylor

Isn’t that fantastic? He’s singing and playing the drums! — Adam Lambert, on Roger Taylor

The first part of the show definitely highlighted Lambert and Brian May, as they of course are down front and can play off each other and run down the ramps whose design confused us at first, but when lit revealed themselves to be a giant Q.

Adam Lambert in the giant Q, down front with Brian May — The top of the Q is cut off here, but hopefully you get the idea

But the other original member of Queen on hand was, of course, drummer Roger Taylor. Roger is not one of the rare, flashy drummers (like Tommy Lee or Keith Moon) who draw your attention away from the musicians in front of him.

However, he’s also more than just the drummer. He wrote many of Queen’s best songs and biggest hits. He sang all the highest notes in those layered harmonies, and often took lead vocal duties as well. His solo oeuvre is the best of any of the band members, and on those albums, he plays guitar. He also bore the burden of being the best-looking member of Queen.

So I was pleased that that Roger also got some time in the spotlight, heading down front to play tambourine when Brian sang “39”, then taking his own lead vocal on “Days of Our Lives”, sung over a backdrop of Queen photos and videos from the past. Then back on drum kit (miraculously moved out front) he took over the David Bowie part of “Under Pressure” while Adam Lambert did Freddie’s. (And Adam’s correct; I’ve always been impressed at Roger’s ability to drum and sing.)

The drum parts during Roger’s solo turns were covered by his son Rufus, who can now compete with Adam for “best-looking member of Queen”. Father and son also did a bit of drum-off, revealing that Roger had passed along musical skill along with the blonde hair.

Rufus, Roger, Adam, Queen — Rufus (left) may need a haircut to *really* compete with Adam on looks… Photo by @Glam4Mama, from New York show

I don’t like to go on too long on drum solos. I don’t want the audience to get bored.

It never seems to bother Brian, though. —Roger Taylor, on Brian (Not to the Toronto crowd)

Dr. Brian May

Brian May definitely seemed to have the greatest affection from the crowd, though. He earned a standing ovation merely for walking to the front of the stage to introduce the more acoustic part of the evening, the “Love of My Life” singalong. I became rather choked up during that part, I must admit, which surprised me, especially as it occurred well before Freddie appeared on the big monitor to sing the final verse.

But Mr. Brian May also teared up during that last part of the song, so I was in good company.

Brian then went on to explain the astrophysics behind 39 (he does have a doctorate in physics, after all), commenting, “I used to think it would be a great idea to go and explore other planets. Now I’m not so sure, since we’ve fucked up this one so badly.” And that anger also surprised, though it probably shouldn’t either, given that I follow him on Twitter…

And a little later in the evening, he indeed did a long guitar solo.

Now, thank God the effects during that thing were really pretty incredible. The photo below is just a tiny taste; they used the screens and the lighting and the lasers and that was pretty riveting.

Unlike the solo, which was just too long, at least for me (and every Toronto critic I read, though they didn’t agree on much else). Of course, I still joined the standing ovation after, but that was just to maintain my sight lines. Really, I was thinking, “Don’t! You’ll just encourage him!”

The hits keep coming

I think this every time I see a Queen-related show: Man, they’ve had a lot of hits. But they fortunately do include some less well-known numbers also, like “Stone Cold Crazy” (made more famous by Metallica than Queen), “Lap of the Gods,” and “Love Kills”, which is actually a Freddie solo track that the band will be re-releasing with new instrumental backing.

The song I was happiest to hear was “I Want It All”, not only because I love it, but also because it was made for the stage, and is one they were unfortunately never able to perform with Freddie, as he was too ill at that point.

The song I was most surprised to enjoy was “Fat Bottomed Girls”, because I don’t love it, normally, but damn it was so much fun live!

This was the set list:

Now I’m Here ♦ Stone Cold Crazy ♦ Another One Bites the Dust ♦ Fat Bottomed Girls ♦ Lap of the Gods ♦ Seven Seas of Rhye ♦ Killer Queen ♦ Somebody to Love ♦ I Want It All ♦ Love of My Life ♦ 39 ♦ Days of Our Lives ♦ Under Pressure ♦ Love Kills ♦ Who Wants to Live Forever ♦ Guitar solo ♦ Tie Your Mother Down ♦ Radio Gaga ♦ Crazy Little Thing Called Love ♦ The Show Must Go On ♦ Bohemian Rhapsody ♦ We Will Rock You ♦ We Are the Champions

That’s amazing, right? And it still leaves out so many great songs (Keep Yourself Alive, You’re My Best Friend, I Want to Break Free, One Vision, A Kind of Magic, Dragon Attack…)

Someone still loves you

This press said this show was sold out, and certainly the Air Canada Centre looked very full. (Though the two people next to us didn’t show up, so we had extra elbow room!)

And it was lovely to be in a room full of Queen fans. This was a first for me.

I’ve been to a lot of Queen tribute-y things, but the people there never seem to know anything beyond the chorus of We Will Rock You.

This crowd knew the verses to We Will Rock You. And all the lyrics to “Love of My Life” and “39”, which were never singles. And they knew exactly how to clap during “Radio Gaga”. And when their matches (or cell phones) needed to “still light up the sky”.

Adam Lambert and crowd — Among the devoted

And unlike the Globe and Mail reporter who reviewed this show, I’m sure they knew that Queen always just leaves the stags plays the video during the operatic part of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. That it wasn’t just getting excessive on the Freddie tribute.

Of course, that video Freddie and live Adam traded off the final lines of “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a new addition, but who can complain of that? It was lovely. (And made for only the third Freddie appearance all evening. Hardly excessive.)

The photographer’s review

“It wasn’t bad. The light show was really good!”

Queen stage, lit up — Lights, camera, photo…

Photo: Queen + Adam Lambert

Full blog post coming soon, natch, but for now, a photo, courtesy Jean:

The concert was so fun…

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Amazing Race Canada

So You Think You Can Dance

Silicon Valley

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1. Learned about sake

2. Walked. A lot!

3. Visited the AGO

4. Ate out

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“I didn’t know you were a fan of Adam Lambert” — someone at work, to me

On Roger Taylor

Dr. Brian May

The hits keep coming

Someone still loves you

The photographer’s review

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