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…

On sitting less

So back in June were another spat of articles, like this one at CNN.com, saying that sitting for many hours a day was bad for you. Even if you exercise.

It is somewhat amazing how non-helpful these articles are.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends mixing noncomputer-related tasks into the workday…

The article says. As if that was actually possible in every job.

Like mine, for instance. What’s a break from my computer work? Well, meetings. The vast majority of which are, in fact, sit-down and not stand-up meetings. Also, I do like to sometimes be retro and work with pen and paper instead of monitor and keyboard. But you can’t write on paper while walking around, either. It pretty much also requires sitting at a desk.

Basically, if I’m not working at a computer, attending a meeting, or writing on paper, I’m not doing my job.

So 2 or 3 years ago now, I implemented the only solution I could see other than changing careers: I bought equipment to raise both my monitors and my keyboard off my desk, so I can work at the computer, standing up.

It was completely weird at first, but I’m used to it now, as is everyone I work with—none of whom have followed my lead, mind you. I did get a lot of queries about in the first few months. But my company won’t pay for it unless you have a doctor’s note that you need it, and I’m not sure doctors write those based on CNN articles stating that sitting 6+ hours a day reduces your life span by 20%.

And it wasn’t cheap. I needed three pieces of equipment, all of which I acquired from http://www.ergocanada.com: An LCD arm to hold two monitors (yes, I get two 21″ monitors at work), an arm extender to make the monitors high enough, and another arm to raise the keyboard tray. All together, that cost around $750—more than people typically want to spend on equipment for their work desks.

(Also, though, I think a lot of people really enjoy sitting down.)

So, I was no trendsetter.

But once I had invested in sufficient pairs of comfy (yet cute) shoes to avoid foot pain, I did find some health benefits that I didn’t have to wait decades for: reduced hip pain, reduced lower back pain, and a slight loosening of my clothes, which might be due to the fact that you burn more calories standing than sitting.

Woman at stand-up desk — Completely impractical shoes for working at a stand-up desk. Also, I think her monitor is too low.

In fact, I liked it enough that I decided to go for the same with the home computer. Well, not exactly the same. I wasn’t about to spend another $750. But my husband found this Visidec dual-monitor arm for more like $120. Like my one at work, this monitor arm was also too short on its own, but he was handy enough to just mount it in a solid piece of wood sitting on my desk, raising the monitors to standing height.

For the keyboard and mouse? Raised via a cardboard box, with a board on it that allows the mouse to slide easily. Hey, it’s home. Doesn’t have to look “professional”.

Another advantage my fancy work monitor arm has—besides looking good—is that it is extremely easy to lower and raise (as is the keyboard tray). So I can, in fact, still sit down to work at the computer, which I do for a bit each day. (I aim for 6.5 hours standing of the 8-hour work day.)

The home Visidec is possible to lower and raise, but not nearly as easily. It takes two people. So instead I intend to just leave that one in the standing position. I have replaced my desk chair with a bar stool, so I can sit on that should I weary of standing.

So, guess I’m OK now, til they come out with the unhelpful articles about the health hazards of standing for too long each day…

Movie reviews: The Grand Seduction and The Birder

Thought it appropriate, on Canada Day, to comment on two recently seen Canadian movies. While Canada sometimes has a reputation for making po-faced, off-beat dramas, these were both comedies.

*** The Grand Seduction (May 2014) – Theatre

Brendan Gleeson, Gordon Pinsent, Taylor Kitsch. A small Newfoundland town’s bid for a new factory depends on their enticing a doctor to move to the community.

She says: I loved the Québecois version of this movie and was curious to see how the English one would turn out. The setting was switched from Gaspé to Newfoundland here, which seemed a propos, and allowed them to hire almost the entire cast of 22 Minutes: Mark Critch, Cathy Jones, Mary Walsh. They’re all good, though, as is the lead, Irishman Brendan Gleeson and, of course, Mr. Gordon Pinsent, as he always. Liane Balaban’s part is almost too small to comment on, which is too bad.

As for the doctor, it took me a few minutes to recognize him as having played the hunky Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights. So that’s what happened to him, in case you were wondering! He’s probably not the strongest actor in this comic piece, but he’s just as hunky as ever.

I enjoyed the new movie. Perhaps not as much as I enjoyed the original, but then, I knew certain jokes were coming this time. While I would have missed those jokes if they weren’t in this movie also, it’s hard to be quite as delighted the second time out. Fortunately, as is common with me, I did forget some details of the original plot, so wasn’t entirely certain how this one would play out. (Or if it played out differently than in the original, for that matter.) Always better to be caught up in the story.

He says: I enjoyed that, too. It was funny, they did a good job adapting it.

**½ The Birder (May 2014) – Theatre

Tom Cavanagh, Mark Rendall, Jamie Spilchuk. In the midst of his marriage ending, teacher and bird enthusiast Ron Spencer loses out on a much-desired job as head of ornithology to Floyd Hawkins. He embarks on a revenge campaign with Ben, the young school janitor, who has his own reasons for disliking Hawkins.

She says: Largely set at Point Pelee Park, featuring a main character who swears by saying “F” (literally, F), and a “villain” who is anything but, this movie flirts with the hokey. It is, undeniably, very funny at times, though, as Ron and Ben’s revenge schemes go terribly awry. And the acting, particularly by lead Tom Cavanagh, elevates the characters to more than cartoons. It’s light, it’s not terribly original, but you won’t hate yourself for watching it and laughing along.

He says: It was pretty predictable, but it did keep my interest.

And, just for the record, some other Canadian movies that I think are terrific. (Even though a number are po-faced, off-beat dramas.)

Les Invasions Barbares (Barbarian Invasions) – One of the best movies ever, period
Last Night – It’s the last night on earth… by Don McKellar (who directed The Grand Seduction)
The New Waterford Girl – To really see what Liane Balaban can do
A History of Violence – Cronenberg!
Bon Cop, Bad Cop – This is a funny one!
Café de Flore – A love story (C.R.A.Z.Y, by the same directory, is also very good)
Take This Waltz – directed by Sarah Polley; Away from Her is also recommended
Monsieur Lazhar – Yep, another Quéecois one…
Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) – Very long, though
Saint Ralph – Quite enjoyable

It’s not television. It’s HBO. (Unfortunately, it’s also Rogers.)

Calling Rogers support is a bit of a crapshoot. You sometimes get a very informed, very helpful employee. Other times… Not so much.

When I last called to make changes to my Rogers services, I hit it lucky. The support person clearly and carefully walked me through the options, helped me pick the right one, and explained exactly what it would mean for my bill. Not only that, but he gave me another number to call, saying I should insist on at least a 20% reduction in my bill. “You’ve been with Rogers a long time,” he said. “And we haven’t done much for you lately.”

And for the past couple years, I have indeed been getting a 20% reduction on my cable and Internet bill. But that discount just expired, making for some serious cable bill sticker shock. Time to reconsider what I’m subscribing to.

The list of cable package prices on the Rogers website shows a big difference between basic cable and the other tiers. And fact is that most of what I watch is on the big networks, not the specialty channels. If I get a real craving for Chopped Canada, it is available to stream from the Food Network website.

And at the whole other end of the Rogers cable package spectrum, at prices so absurdly high that I’d never considered subscribing, is package of all specialty channels + the movie networks.

But poking around revealed that you could get just the movie networks added to your TV line up. That is, you can get the various flavors of HBO Canada and TMN, without all the channels in between (those past 28). It’s not especially cheap, but did appear to be cheaper than what I was paying to add all those specialty channels I barely watched. Also on offer: a 50% discount on that package for the first four months.

I decided to go for it.

Unfortunately, I did not get quite the same quality of phone support this time out. Quite honestly, I now have no idea what this is going to mean for my bill. For one thing, based on past experience, the prices on the website seem to be only an approximation of the actual prices charged. (I have no idea why.) I’m still not sure whether activation or deactivation fees come into. Apparently an extra outlet fee applies to people who have only basic cable but more than one TV (even they get the movie networks, too). And I had to tell the Rogers person that I should qualify for a 50% discount for the first four months, which wasn’t really comforting.

But, dude. There sure is a lot of fantastic programming on those movie networks. In high definition, and commercial free.

Options on TMN

And I don’t even mean the Hollywood movies, though they do have a great selection of those. It’s the series, right? All the ones everyone torrents?

I’m too late for Game of Thrones. It’s in season 4; not jumping in on that now. I’ve read that Girls isn’t quite as good anymore. And I’ve kind of given up on True Blood (which I’d seen on DVD).

But I’m just in time to start with Silicon Valley, a very funny new show about a tech start-up company. Veep is just restarting Season 3, and it doesn’t appear to be necessary to have seen the earlier seasons to enjoy this one. It is a bit confusing jumping into Masters of Sex—a series about Masters and Johnson—mid-season, but enjoyable nonetheless. Then there’s new one called The Leftovers starting soon, that looks really interesting.

And with Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver added to my viewing of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on CTV, my American political satire cup truly runneth over.

Then there’s the specials and documentaries (like the upcoming David Bowie: Five Years), the original movies (like The Normal Heart, replaying the first week of July)…

And all of this is also available on demand (~~though not at high def, for some reason?~~) [Edit: On demand is available at high definition; you just have to pick the right channel.] And everything plays many times “live”. So you don’t really have to worry about missing an episode or special, or arrange your schedule around the TV, or even remember to set the PVR (though I still do, because I’m just in that habit).

So I sure hope I can afford to keep this.

Once in a Blue Moon

Jean and I have been taking ballroom dance lessons for quite a few years. But beyond class and practice sessions, it’s not a skill we get to use that often.

Ballroom dance couple — One of our signature moves. (Or not.)

Our instructors periodically organize dances that we attend, and there is a local Rainbow Rhythm ballroom dance group that puts on monthly events. We’ve been to a couple of those. At these evenings, everyone knows how to ballroom dance—albeit at different skill levels—so everyone dances in twos, in dance hold, and we all move around the floor in the same direction. The main challenge is that the floor tends to be more crowded than we’re used to in dance class.

Then sometimes we get invited to weddings, anniversaries, or work functions at which there is a DJ and dance floor. At these, of course, most people have no dance training and don’t follow any rules. They just move to the music, on their own, with one other person, or with a group of other people. Of course, that’s fun, and we do a some of that also, but we will also try to find a corner to actually dance steps together. Latin dances and jive, usually done in one spot, are usually manageable. But trying to waltz, fox trot, or quick step around the room is generally impossible.

Other people in our class expend a great deal more effort than we do trying to find places to dance. One spot they return to regularly is the Blue Moon, in the small nearby town of Petersburg. They especially like it when Dianne & the Cavaliers are playing there.

I’d been reluctant to go because their music has been described as Country Western, which—gotta say—is not my favorite! But when the whole rest of the class agreed to go last Saturday, we figured we should give it a try.

And damn, it was fun.

Country western it was, but good. Johnny Cash tunes, a whole medley of great 50s rock (starting with “Rock Around the Clock”), waltzes (mostly Viennese) like the Waltz of Texas, slow foxes, quick steps—just all with a twang. Talented band.

Now, it wasn’t always clear which dance to do. And looking around the floor didn’t necessarily help much. Although everyone was in dance hold, they weren’t necessarily doing the dances we learn in class. And they certainly weren’t respecting the line of dance. So even when we figured out the rhythm and what dance that implied (occasionally after trying out several), we still had to adapt. Rumbas (normally a stationary dance) that had to move around the room. Waltzes that had to weave in lines instead of circulate. And we kept getting stuck in the middle (“stuck in the middle with you,” Jean sang to me, at one point).

But figuring all that out was also rather fun. And the evening was great exercise, because they don’t play too many slow songs!

Disco dance pose — *Not* what the crowd at the Blue Moon looked like

Jean marveled at the novelty of a room full of people all dancing as couples, doing steps, yet those not being “strictly ballroom”. And that it was a probably a generational thing—as we were leaving, he pointed out that we definitely appeared to be the youngest people there.

That hadn’t particularly noticed that til then is perhaps proof that dancing keeps you young. (Or, that I’m just not that observant. Could go either way.)

Enver’s of Morriston

Morriston is a tiny town about 40 minutes west of KW. Enver’s is a fine dining restaurant that, inexplicably, is located in this town. I’ve been curious to try it for, oh, 20 years—but it’s just hard to find a reason to drive to Morriston for dinner.

Finally, though, last Friday, another couple invited us to a wine tasting dinner there.

The food was matched with these Tandem wines, none of which are available from the LCBO:

Coal Pit Sauvignon Blanc 2011
Coal Pit Pinot Noir 2011
Teusmer GMS “Joshua” 2012

These were all were quite nice. The Sauvignon was very complex and lovely; the Pinot was fruity but not excessively slow—still had tannins; the GMS was big but sophisticated.

Unfortunately, the wine seems to have clouded my recall for how the food was, exactly.

Truly, it’s a bit sad how tipsy I feel from a mere three glasses of wine over about three hours. And what’s with the waking up all sweaty about 4:00 in the morning after? Is that some “old lady” thing I have now?

I do have the menu, so I do know exactly what we had. There is some photographic evidence as well, though the photos didn’t turn out as well as usual. And I definitely enjoyed the company; it was a fun night.

But the food? Hmm…

Well, the amuse was definitely nice: “Maple hot smoked wild spring salmon on buckwheat blini with crème fraiche, rhubarb “caviar” and chive flowers.” A bit hard to eat, standing, but very tasty.

And the appetizer featured spot prawns, from BC, which apparently are quite the delicacy, and only available for a short time of the year. Those were served with avocado frozen yogurt, grapefruit, passionfruit coulis, and shaved asparagus salad.

Unfortunately, travel doesn’t seem to suit spot prawns, and they were just not as tasty as good prawns can be. All the sides were good, though.

Then, the menu informs me, we had porchetta with baked romano beans on rye toast and beets. Very homey. And I think everything tasted.. fine? [Lamest blog post ever!]

And after that came, says menu, saddle of lamb on braised lamb and mint ravioli with porcini mushrooms and currants. As for taste and texture, I got nothing. But Jean said the ravioli, while not bad, was not as good as he was hoping. The lamb looks nice in the picture, though:

Dessert, wine-less and photo-less, I do recall being rather light and pleasant. (Will say that with the number of courses, they did a good job of making sure the serving sizes were reasonable.) It was a rhubarb tart with citrus curd. Refreshing!

But overall, that was a most unsatisfactory review. We’re just going to have to go again. (And I’m just going to have to stick to two glasses of wine.)

Movie review-lets, with bonus thoughts on Muppet gender

We recently watched the 2011 movie, The Muppets, which “rebooted” the characters from The Muppet Show, which ran from 1976 to 1981, and then launched a series of movies. It was fun, especially if you do remember the show. (If you don’t, as with most kids, a lot of the references would go over your head). It’s a musical, with catchy original songs and some hilarious covers, such as a barbershop quartet versions of “Smells like Teen Spirit” and chicken-clucking version of C Lo Green’s “F(orget) You”.

But I became super-distracted by something I’d never really noticed before: Almost all the freakin’ muppets are boys. You have Miss Piggy, of course, and then… Janice, in the band, who rarely says anything, and then… The chickens? Who also don’t talk. So one speaking female Muppet character.

This, my friends, would be your Smurfette principle in action: the tendency of movies for children to have only one female character amongst an ensemble of male characters.

And speaking of sexism, we also saw It Happened One Night recently. This romantic comedy, starring Clarke Gable and Claudette Colbert, maybe didn’t always have the most enlightened view of the role of women? It does have the excuse, though, that it was made in 1934.

I don’t watch a whole lot of 1934 movies, but some movies are classics for a reason. The two stars have chemistry, the script is lively, and it’s enjoyable watching them play out the romantic comedy pattern of meet, repel, attract, obstacle, reunion.

Not really sure about the title, though, since it doesn’t all happen in one night; it takes places over a few weeks. Unless that’s a reference to the night the walls of Jericho came down? In which case, naughty, naughty!

Speaking of naughty, naughty, I also saw The Libertine, 2006, starring Johnny Depp as John Wilmot, notorious for writing bawdy poems and plays. The movie wasn’t a hit with audiences or critics, but it’s not that it was badly made. It just took a rather dark view of this character, and that made the movie rather less fun that it might have been. It particularly didn’t shy away from the effects of alcoholism and venereal disease in the last third of the film.

Jean’s review? “Remind me not to get syphilis.”

Movie review: Fed Up

*** Fed Up (May 2014) – Theatre

Documentary about the obesity epidemic, linking it to changes in the food industry, particularly increased use of sugar.

He says: That was depressing.

She says: Fed Up gives the stats on the increasing obesity rates, particularly among children, and includes interviews with several such young people and teenagers. You can’t help but feel for how miserable their weight makes them, and how tough is it to lose.

Various experts than give their views that just saying “kids need to exercise more” is misguided, because the amount of calories burnt during exercise is so limited. (This is further bolstered by showing that one of the obese teens profiled is very active, every day, yet can’t seem to get the weight off.) Instead, they point to the changes in the food industry in the past 40 years, and how these track with increasing rates of obesity in America—and increasingly, around the world. This has had terrible and unprecedented effects on health, such as teenagers developing Type 2 diabetes.

The problematic changes include greatly increased amounts of sugar, greater use of cheese, and making conveniences food available everywhere—like at the checkout counters of stores that sell other things. Several examples are shown of governments trying to make changes to the food supply to make it healthier, and the food industry resisting them. This started with the McGovern Report in 1977 and continues to this day with Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign which started as a call to action to change the actual food supply, but now seems to be more about getting kids to exercise. (Ms. Obama refused to be interviewed for the documentary.)

It’s an interesting movie, and a compelling argument. It ends with some tips for what you can do while waiting for a better world :-), but I got to say, until that happens, it really is difficult.

For instance. In talking about the problem with sugar, the movie emphasizes that it’s not naturally occurring sugar in fruit, for example, that’s a problem. It’s added sugar. The movie also points out that in ingredient lists, sugar can be listed under many different names (corn syrup, malodrexin, sucrose, fructose, etc. — it was a huge list).

But what the movie doesn’t cover is that nutrition labels don’t distinguish naturally occurring and and added sugar. They just say Sugar. (This is the same in the US and Canada.) So if you look at a nutrition label on frozen peas, for example—just peas, now, no added anything—it says Sugar: 4g.

Well OK, you know it’s only peas, so you won’t worry about that “sugar”. But what if you buy a frozen dinner or something else with multiple ingredients? How much of that is naturally occurring and how much added on? Unless you understand absolutely every item in the ingredients list and can confidently recognize it all as real food, you have no way to know.

Michelle Obama proposed changing nutrition labels to spell out the two types of sugar – video link: http://fw.to/KXR6e3W

The food industry is “considering” it. They say it would be expensive, and change would not be possible for several years.

Dinner and a concert: Times three

As previously mentioned, May was a big concert month for us. Unusually for us, we went out to eat before three of these outings.

1. Food trucks and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy are a band who play retro, swinging jazz music. Before their concert at Centre in the Square, the Waterloo Hep Cat Hoppers were offering a dance lesson in the lobby. We wanted to take part in that, but it was at 6:30 pm on a work night, which seemed a bit tight.

So when Centre in the Square announced they’d have a couple food trucks there that night starting at 6:00, that seemed like a good option.

Seemed. But while food trucks are a whole big thing right now, they have a few problems.

Weather. At least the rain held off until we’d gotten our food and eaten it, but it was windy and cool, making it less than fabulous for eating outdoors.
Eating standing up. I’m a big fan of working standing up, but eating a meal is best enjoyed sitting down. Using metal and not plastic cutlery.
Standing in line. Just not my favorite activity. Made worst by the fact that while we were there promptly at 6:00, the trucks were not really ready until 6:15, allowing other people to get ahead of us in line, and making us a bit late for the dance lesson.

As for food quality… Meh… Jean didn’t particularly enjoy his Tandoori grilled cheese. I thought my Mediterranean crepe wasn’t bad, but not really worth braving weather / eating standing up / standing in line for again, unless I was stuck.

The dance lesson, though, was fine. What we were taught was very similar to the jive that Jean and I know well, only instead of backstep / step / step (or triple step), it was back-step / kick / kick. It was really hard to remember to do the kick / kick when we were so used to the step / step. Occasionally we just rebelled and reverted to jive dancing. But a good time.

Hep Cat Hoppers performance on YouTube

As for the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performance, that was hard not to enjoy also, as the music is so lively and fun. I hadn’t known that the band, the same group of people, had been together since 1995. Jean wasn’t in the greatest mood that night (and I’m sure the grilled cheese didn’t help), but he could still recognize that they gave a really good show. (Should point out that this concert was his idea for a change, rather than mine.)

Video: Mr. Pinstripe Suit by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

2. Three Kretans and Ballroom with a Twist

Three Kretans is a Greek restaurant very close to Centre in the Square. For the past year or two, Centre in the Square’s parking lot has been under construction, making it a challenge to find a spot to leave your car before shows. So Three Kretans has come up with a pretty smart offer: Have dinner there, leave your car in their parking lot (for free), and walk to theatre. They have a pre-theatre menu that gets you to the show on time. With the ballroom concert at 7:00 on a week night, we decided to go that right.

The food isn’t bad. It is a casual Greek restaurnt, so you get your lamb, chicken, or pork skewers with potatoes and rice and Greek salad. And baklava-type dessert, if you want.

But Jean was underwhelmed. “I get better food than this at home,” he pointed out. [Ah, the perils of being such a fantastic home cook! 🙂 ]

The show, fortunately was in no way disappointing. Music was all provided by the KW Symphony, and the evening was hosted by Kym Johnson and Tristan MacManus of Dancing with the Stars, and also featured other dancers that show. That fact probably would have been more exciting if I watched Dancing with the Stars. (By the way, everyone in our ballroom dance class thinks it’s highly peculiar that we don’t watch that show.) And there were a couple singers from American Idol, which, again, I don’t watch, so I didn’t know who they were. But while the woman certainly had a nice voice, I will admit to being particularly impressed by the dude, one Von Smith, who had most impressive range and control.

Mainly, though, this was about dancing. It featured group numbers, solos, duets, mostly in the Latin and ballroom genres (though in that showy TV style with all the lifts and whatnot), but the twist was the inclusion of some modern and hip hop dancing as well. This was largely due to the inclusion of a couple dancers I had heard of: Legacy and Randi Lynn Strong, from So You Think You Can Dance. Their numbers were definitely my favorites. Very cool how the So You Think… training allows them to join the ballroom dancers in that genre, but also shine in their own.

Ballroom with a Twist promo video

At one point, the hosts even got the audience up dancing! All very fun.

Afterward we got to attend a reception with the performers, though I continued my tradition of never knowing what to say when in these situations. Still, what we learned from other people’s question were:

This was their only Canadian performance.
They don’t always get to perform with a live symphony, but like it when they do
… except when the symphony can’t keep the beat. But apparently, that was not a problem with the KW Symphony.

Randi Lynn Strong at reception — Randi Lynn Strong at Centre in the Square reception

After taking a few crappy phone photos, we headed home.

3. Marisol and KW Symphony Superheroes

Jean pointed out that Marisol restaurant is also close to Centre in the Square, but offers better food than Three Kretans. So though I hadn’t planned to go out to eat again this month, as we hadn’t been there in a while, I made a reservation before the final month’s concert.

It was a very enjoyable dinner. As an appetizer, we shared six small but delicious raspberry point oysters (they actually gave us seven, probably due to the size) and marinated sardines, served with a salad. There’s no beating fresh sardines from Portugal, but marinating them proved a rather good choice for those of us farther from the sea. We were so excited about these, we forgot to get a picture until almost done:

Photo & Video Sharing by SmugMug — The remnants of our appetizers

As the wine, the waiter suggested a Portuguese Viognier-Sauvignon Blanc blend that was lemony and well-suited to the food.

I continued the seafood theme through dinner, having the fish of the day, which was sea bream. Served whole, it was really easy to fillet, and had been cooked very nicely. The side was a pasta made in-house, dressed simply with lemon, olive oil, and parsley.

Jean went with the lemon-tomato gnocchi. The texture of the pasta was perfect, and the flavor was more subtle than one usually gets with gnocchi. Not a bad thing.

For dessert, we share a creme caramel and forgot to take pictures, again.

We were in plenty of time to walk over for our concert, which the KW Symphony performing music from Superhero movies. This was conducted by John Morris Phillips, Cincinnati Pops conductor, who is always a lot of fun.

The only themes I knew in advance was Darth Vadar’s from Star Wars, but I found most quite engaging. The themes from Dark Knight, Supergirl, and X–Men were particularly striking. A lot were almost hilariously short, though; just the length of the opening credits, I guess! In some cases they put a few scores together to make a somewhat longer “theme” piece. Nothing that ever really taxed the attention span, though.

It was a great way to showcase the symphony’s skill, and it was nice to see a very full house in attendance.

“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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1. Food trucks and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

2. Three Kretans and Ballroom with a Twist

3. Marisol and KW Symphony Superheroes

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