My husband and I generally have our own little Christmas celebration the weekend before the actual day, when we join in the craziness of celebrating with the large extended family. This year my husband was on call that weekend, so we had to work around that, but that’s quite a bit easier when you’re only dealing with two people.
The exchanging of “stuff”
Aiming to give each other anything major as Christmas gifts seemed sort of ridiculous as we’re currently honing in new TV and sound system already. This not long after getting the new computer, some clothes… You get the idea. So we just did “stocking stuffer” kind of things, which, as Jean said, is way more fun! The amusement of each having bought each the same wine accessory… The silly but cute gadgets from those catalogs… Chocolates and wine (which needs to be replenished constantly, anyway)… The fact he actually listened when I said I needed a new closet thingie for storing my jewelry in…
So, the black thing in this photo is a dress-shaped thingie with a hanger top that has loops in the back for hanging necklaces, and pouches in front for holding earrings and bracelets and such. It will be perfect, but it’s empty at the moment (since I just got it), and therefore seemed in need of some adornment. That takes the form of a VSC bra, which—though I ordered it myself, for myself—was still something of a Christmas surprise.
First, it arrived in record time, despite my not having paid for fast shipping. (Thanks, Canada Post.) Second, I bought it mainly because I thought my current strapless wasn’t pretty enough to wear under a dress. (Which basically makes no sense, since the point of a strapless is that no one sees it. But never mind that.) The pleasant surprise was that it was even prettier than I’d expected, with its little sparkles and lacing details. I almost felt it should be seen. So here it is! (I ignored Jean’s suggestion that I model it. This isn’t that kind of blog.)
Pre-Christmas dinn-ah
I went for pretty simple-to-prepare, traditional-ish food, in quantities suitable for two.
This was Rock Cornish hens, prepared by sticking a mustard/rosemary paste under the skin, then baking it at 425. This produced nice crisp skin (which the diet recipe said to discard, but I poo-pooed that suggestion) and tasty, moist meat. The “gravy” was a mix of the juice with red wine, chicken broth, and seasoning.
I served this with mixed roasted vegetables—red potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots—in olive oil, white wine, and seasoning, baked at the same temperature as the meat, and a homemade cranberry sauce (cranberries, apple cider, sugar). As Jean had to limit all alcohol while on duty, we served it with a nice but not spectacular Cotes du Rhone.
Dessert stayed on the homey theme: A cinnamon apple crisp, with raisins, served with vanilla yogurt and port.
My rather excellent run of live concerts this year was capped off with The Barenaked Ladies, performing “Hits and Holiday Songs” with the KW Symphony, at Centre in the Square last Sunday.
Jean was a bit puzzled at my interest in this one, as I don’t exactly idolize this band. But I had been thinking for a while that I wouldn’t mind seeing them in concert. I definitely like the albums and songs of theirs that I have (which is probably only the obvious ones), and I figured their humorous approach to performance would make their live show fun. So when a local concert was announced, I didn’t wait long to get tickets.
Though the trip to Toronto was some time ago now (late November), I still wanted to add a few bits about it.
Dining at the legislature
Though I’ve had the full tour of Ottawa’s Parliament buildings before, I’m not sure I’d actually been to the Ontario Legislature before, but that’s where I met my sister for lunch. It’s a pretty quiet place these days, as a result of the controversial prorogation, but a very attractive old building—well worth seeing. We ate at the In Camera dining room, which has fairly luxurious atmosphere, and a varying menu with, appropriately, emphasis on local foods. All quite good at pretty reasonable prices.
Dining at Ki
Ki Restaurant has become my destination of choice for pre-concert dining, because of its highly convenient location (close to both Air Canada and Sony Centres), reliably delicious food, and excellent service. It does have a downside, though, in its large bar area being a destination of choice for the young and beautiful professionals to meet after work. It doesn’t bother us that we’re therefore seated at the back to not bring down the atmosphere, but it does make for pretty noisy dining. Something that bothers Jean in particular.
Still, at least the eating itself remained enjoyable. At Ki you order five or six small plates (for two people, that is). A bit of a challenge to pick all that out from the fairly sizable menu, but with practice we’re getting better at it. (And the wait staff are always helpful.) I no longer remember everything we had, but I do know that the seared fresh scallop with mushrooms and edamame was one of the highlights.
We also had a number of sushi and tempura inspired items, including the tempura butterfish of Alaskan king crab, salmon, butterfish, avocado, cucumber + tobiko with a tempura crust.
But the highlight, unpictured, was the creamy miso chowder drizzled with truffle oil. Just an astonishing combination of flavors.
Toronto sights
The predicted weather for this trip was terrible, but the actuality was much better: less cold, less rain than anticipated. Only late Saturday did it get pretty unpleasant, with a temperature and wind. (So then we went went home. 🙂 )
Before, though, we did have some time to amble and get some photos.
We got the above photo on the walk back from The Who concert.
And while our supposed 4-star “official Grey Cup” hotel wasn’t particularly spectacular, we were way up high and did have a beautiful view of the city outside. I love this shot.
Jean managed to stay up for over 12 hours straight today!
Normally this wouldn’t be worthy of note, but for the past three days, sleeping has been his favorite activity—over eating, computers, everything.
At first I had misdiagnosed his lethargy, sniffles, and moaning as a particularly bad cold, but the missed work day on Monday, the third day he spent mostly in bed, convinced me it was actually the flu. I suppose the signs of fever (too cold, then too hot) and the reports of sore muscles should have been a clue, also.
Not that it particularly matters, as the treatment for both is about the same: Rest. Fluids. Tylenol. Citrus.
He finally seems to be somewhat on the mend today, though not exactly feeling well yet, but gotta say, this past weekend didn’t look like it was much fun for him.
And yes, for the first time in many years, he didn’t get the flu shot. To be fair, he did try to get it one day, but the timing didn’t quite work out, and then he dropped the pursuit. Unfortunately, per KW Record, turns out that this year, “Waterloo Region has 103 confirmed flu cases, the highest number in the province at about a quarter of the Ontario total.”
As for me? Well, I did get my flu shot, and long enough ago that it should have full effect. So knock wood and all that, as I know the shot doesn’t offer guaranteed protection, but so far so good. I feel fine.
Playing a bit of catch-up here, on the eclectic mix of KW Symphony concerts we’ve seen this fall and winter…
It began in September with the season opener. The first half were two fairly fabulous modern classical pieces, both by local composers, Stewart Goodyear’s Count Up and John Estacio’s Brio: Toccata and Fantasy for Orchestra. The second half was somewhat more familiar: Beethoven’s Symphony in D minor: The Ode to Joy. It’s a bit funny in that it features a mass choir (four choirs, combined) and four soloists, but for most of the performance time, they are just sitting there. They only start singing in the later movements.
But what a gorgeous piece that is. I’m always worried I’ll get a bit bored during the slow bits of classical pieces, but that didn’t happen here. Too beautiful, too moving. Then afterward, we attended the opening gala, which offered a live band (not classical), dancing, hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and an auction. It was a fun evening.
In October, we saw Penelope, by Sarah Kirland Snider (who was in attendance), which was part of the Intersections series. It was a “song cycle”, in which a woman’s husband returns from the war after many years, not remembering his previous life. The performance is his wife’s reaction to this and attempts to restore his memory, partly through reading Homer’s Odyssey to him.
Haunting is probably the best descriptor of this one. It wasn’t quite like anything I’ve heard before. It was written for and performed by Shara Worden, who has a gorgeous but unusual, almost unearthly, quality to her voice. Think I’d like to get the recording, though it would be the kind of thing you’d want to just listen to and through on its own, and not on shuffle mode with other things.
(I found this video while researching this, and really got drawn into watching it all, though it’s seven minutes long…) After the song cycle, Shara Worden performed some of her own songs, which were quirky and somewhat lighter, even featuring audience participation.
Then earlier this month, Edwin Outwater presented the work he’d listened to a lot as a (clearly very unusual) teenager, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No 5. The piece is over an hour long and requires more musicians than KW Symphony has, so they were joined by about 40 additional musicians. In the first half, after with Schubert’s brief Entr’acte No. 3 from Rosamunde, Outwater explained what was going on the various parts of the Mahler symphony, with excerpts, then in the second half, they played it all. Though I’d had kind of a day at work, I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the gorgeous music rather than brooding on that.
He’s right that it’s an amazing work. Still can’t imagine myself having listened to it as a teenager, though.
Finally, the first Jeans’n’Classics concert led off this month with something I did listen to as a teenager: The Beatles: Rubber Soul and Revolver. Jean calls me a snob for this, but I still protest that following the old US releases of these albums rather than the more definitive UK / CD versions was a weird Boomer thing to do, particularly as it meant the omission of songs like “Love You to” (my favorite of the three Harrison songs on Revolver) and “And Your Bird Can Sing”. And the even more brilliant songs “Drive My Car” and “Nowhere Man” are only recent additions, tacked on at the end of Rubber Soul’s odd US play order.
But then again… Maybe has does have a point that it’s just a quibble, because it was a really good concert. The Beatles music is very suited to the symphonic treatment, and Peter Brennan clearly loves them and does cool, original things with the arrangements, such as intermixing “Within You Without You” (from Sgt. Pepper) into Octopus’s Garden.
The two lead singers, David Blamires and Neil Donnell, both have exquisite voices, and their weaker stage presence was made up for by having personable keyboardist John Regan lead us through the set. We also got Don Paulton on keyboards, in a rare double-shot on the ivories. And one has to mention that apart from singing well, as always, Kathryn Rose looked particularly fetching. She seems to be one of those women who just get more attractive as they get older.
The set list, of course, featured three of my all-time favorite Beatles songs, “Norwegian Wood” (which led to a night-long debate as to just what John Lennon was setting fire to there), “In My Life”, “Girl” (so sensual), and “For No One” (a most devastating breakup song). But those two albums are just strong in general, so there wasn’t much dross. The very odd “Tomorrow Never Knows” was suitably trippy ending to the evening.
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
In a large microwave-safe bowl, stir together the white sugar, brown sugar and cream. Cook at full power for 10 minutes, stirring twice. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Use an electric mixer on low speed to beat the mixture for 4 minutes. Pour into a buttered 8 inch square glass baking dish. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into squares when set.
I again cooked it for 9 minutes instead of 10, but this year I did manage to beat it on low speed for the full 4 minutes recommended. (I have no idea why that didn’t work last year.)
The results definitely seem creamier this year this they were last, when I found it a bit more crumbly than seemed ideal.
Of course, taste is never an issue when you’re talking sugar, sugar, and cream. It’s good! I’ll once again be sharing some with coworkers, to save us from the fate of eating the entire batch…
We saw two love stories, of sorts, recently. One is a current release about a man who spends most of his day confined to an iron lung, and thus is still a virgin at 38. The other is about the volatile relationship between a nurse played by Michelle Williams, and a house painter played by Ryan Gosling.
One of the two was really depressing. But probably not the one you think…
John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, and William H. Macey. Journalist and poet Mark O’Brien, whose childhood polio has left him confined to an iron lungmost of the day, but who does have functioning genitalia, becomes determined to lose his virginity at age 38, with the help of a sex therapist.
She says: The trailer for this movie makes it look really funny, and much of it is, in the interaction between Mark and his caretakers, and especially with his open-minded priest, played by William H. Macey. But it is also really touching, especially in the relationship between Mark and his sex therapist, Cheryl. Cheryl (who is married) knows the pitfalls of transference and how to set limits on the sex therapist / client relationship, but her own emotional response makes these harder to maintain as the sessions (six maximum!) continue.
The sex in this movie is really beautiful, not because of amazing bodies or great cinematography, but because it really is an expression of intimacy and love. It’s triumphant.
He says: That was a really sweet movie. (And that’s all you’re allowed to quote me on.)
Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling. A marriage at the end of its ropes is contrasted with the happy start of the relationship.
She says: The acting is good here, it’s very realistic, but it’s brutal watching two people who once loved each other just tear each other apart. Made for rather depressing viewing.
He says: I didn’t find anything good about that. I don’t care that it’s “well made”; there was just nothing to enjoy there.
Of course, there was no way I would miss seeing The Who performing one of my favorite albums in nearby Toronto. But despite the mostly positive reviews of the tour (the only exceptions being from those boomers who, far as I can tell, mainly resent The Who for no longer being 25), I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy it. I thought that:
My seats at the opposite end of the stage (behind the floor seats) would not compare well with the “right in front of the stage” seats I’d had at the last two Roger Daltrey concerts.
The sound quality would be pretty crappy.
The singing quality might be kind of crappy, given how difficult Quadrophenia is to sing.
We weren’t exactly down front this time…
The date would also prove to throw up a few other challenges. When I bought the tickets back in July, I didn’t know that would be bringing me to downtown Toronto on Grey Cup weekend. That made for some incredibly inflated weekend hotel prices! And just a wee bit of extra traffic.
But it all turned out better than expected.
We were actually staying (without intending this at all) at the “official Grey Cup hotel.” Which, yes, it was pretty crazy with people there. But they were a bunch of really happy people! And it’s not every day you see the Winnipeg pipe band playing and marching in your hotel lobby while blue-haired Argos fans and cowboy-hatted Calgary fans look on. It was weird, and definitely seemed that my Who T-shirt was the wrong uniform to be in, but it was entertaining.
And all my concerns about the concert evaporated really quickly as well:
We weren’t close, it’s true, but we were as central as you can get, with perfect sightlines. At any time I could see all five big screens, all members of the band on stage, and if I really wanted a closer view, I had binoculars.
The sound quality wasn’t bad at all. The horns, keyboards, guitars, bass, and drums all seemed nicely mixed; it was loud enough without being too loud.
Of course some of the songs were wisely keyed lower than the original, but Roger Daltrey sang the best I’ve heard him in recent years, deftly handling the vocal jumps in “Dr. Jimmy”, singing the chorus of “Love Reign O’er Me” with impressive power and passion, and absolutely nailing the scream in “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.
But we could still see
The opening act
I do want to pause for a minute and acknowledge that opening act Vintage Trouble were fantastic. Led by Ty Taylor—most famous as a former contestant on Rock Star: INXS—they were energetic, engaging, and charismatic, and Ty’s signing voice remains a miraculous thing. Their half-hour set was tons of fun, and I’m going to pick up a few more of their songs. They earned a standing ovation.
Quadrophenia
As is typical, not everyone showed up for the opening act (their loss) but by the time 8:30 rolled around, that stadium looked really packed—more than I expected, really, as I didn’t think it was a sellout (and maybe it wasn’t, but it must have been close). And once again, I had that feeling that the people of Toronto really love The Who. They may have been average age 50 (I’d guess), but they were as enthusiastic as teenagers.
Another killer Who show. Toronto crowd are loud – like a home crowd. Where to next? Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago…
Apparently the original Quadrophenia tour was a bit of a mess, the band not having been given enough time to prepare for a live presentation of that complex music. The 1996/97 outing (which I have on DVD) featured a narrator telling the story of Jimmy the Mod. This one returned to another central idea of Quadrophenia: that it represented the band itself, aspects of the four very different personalities in The Who. So it was presented, sort of, as today’s Who paying tribute to their own past.
Earlier in the show; Roger still in jacket
They played the album straight through, no narration, not even pausing to talk to the audience. But throughout, they used the five large screens behind them to either illustrate themes of the songs (a lot of water imagery—don’t see this show on a full bladder) or show scenes from that time. (Along with showing what was happening on stage, of course.) Often the scenes were of their younger selves. For example, during “The Real Me” and “Cut My Hair” were scenes of the very young mod Who at the tiny clubs they originally played at.
During “The Punk and the Godfather”, the song where Jimmy is angry that The Who have become so famous, abandoning their mod roots, the scenes were all of the band in their glory days: Pete leaping, Keith thrashing, John being cool, and Roger as the ultimate rock God. (Struck me that seeing the younger selves on the big screen while the current members sang live was the closest someone my age could possibly get to seeing The Who in their prime. And yes, I’m grateful for the experience.)
On “Helpless Dancer”, the tough guy theme, Pete and Roger traded off lines (Pete seemed to deliberately censor himself on the “lesbians and queers” line, which was interesting) while the screens showed The Who in their destructive phase, smashing their guitars, drum kits, and microphone stands, and setting off bombs.
Most notably, of course—it’s mentioned in every review—during 5:15, the live band stops at one point to allow the big projection of John Entwistle to play his famous bass solo from the Albert Hall concert in 1997. The band was really rocking at this point, and earned their first standing ovation of the night.
Out of my brain on the train, on the train… 5:15
Then during “Bell Boy”, Roger handed off vocal duties to Keith Moon (video image of), just like in the old days. (Here’s video of that–not by us–also featuring the fabulous “Dr. Jimmy”, which followed.)
I have to say I found that part unexpectedly touching. I’m too young to remember when Keith Moon died; to me, in a sense, he’s always been gone, you know? So seeing this footage is the first time I can recall feeling sad about his passing.
During the instrumental “The Rock” (the only time Daltrey left the stage) the images ran through key points in history from mod days to now. The timing of the music to the 9/11 imagery was powerful and, again, very touching.
That led to the aforementioned “Love Reign O’er Me”, in which I was honestly astounded at how great Roger sounded on the chorus. I have to say that another thing about the hockey arena is that it really struck me how big and powerful his voice is, when contrasted with that of the Townshend brothers. Simon has a gorgeous, sweet-sounding voice; Pete’s has developed a bit of an odd growl in the lower ranges. But neither can fill the space in the same way.
Still Mr Body Beautiful at 68: Love Reign O’er Me
“Love Reign O’er Me” produced the second standing ovation. (Video of that: Not from great seats, but does have great audio.) It was also the conclusion of the Quadrophenia portion of the evening.
… And more
The Quadrophenia portion was tailor-made for The Who geeks. It was not so good for more casual fans, such as my husband (who was very happy he at least had his camera with him, to keep him busy. He took 1500 photos!). So the “and more” part of the evening was especially for them. Pete Townshend finally addressed the audience, talking about how Toronto had always been a special place for the band. And then they launched into “Who Are You” over a fun backdrop, featuring, among other images, a Canadian flag (very astute of them) and the Argos logo!
Who are you?
Meanwhile, the smaller screens flitted between different band members. Who are you? Who, who?
“Behind Blue Eyes” followed (the crowd just stayed standing through this entire last part), and it was quite something to hear that many people singing along with every line. Then we got “Pinball Wizard“–and both Jean and I are quite surprised how well the video of that turned out, given the distance, apparent from the shaking:
The very end featured just Daltrey and Townshend, on the most perfect song to end it on, “Tea and Theatre”, from Endless Wire. According to the Toronto Sun, they’d played for 2 hours 20 minutes. And gotta say, both Daltrey (who looks younger than he is) and Townshend (who does not) make growing older look a lot less scary, they had so much energy throughout, jokes about foot rubs and bed times notwithstanding! We should all be in such good shape at their age.
Rockers past their prime? Sure. But #TheWho last night at #ACC was one of the best concerts I’ve seen in years. Simply outstanding.
I did occasion to wear a couple of the newly purchased dresses recently. First this one, to a dinner at Verses (photo taken after, faded makeup and all):
Dinner there was great, of course. First time with their new winter menu.
And actually, I also wore that dress to work one day, with camisole underneath, to cover up the cleave…
The purple one I did wear to a Christmas party, as planned. I was the only one in that colour! (Red seems popular this year. Black always is, of course.)
Thing is, the only photo I have showing the entire dress, I don’t really like. So instead, here’s a couple of just the top of the dress. You’ll have to just imagine the rest of it.
(Her I’m with someone Jean works with. An important someone.)
The blue one has yet to have an outing, but I’m sure its day will come.
Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller. A troubled young man finds high school less traumatic when he finally makes friends with some misfit seniors.
She says: Since we (the North American over-14 “we”) have all been to high school, it’s hard not to connect with this film: the hormonal confusion, the drug experimentation, the fear of not having anyone to sit with in the cafeteria, or talk to at the school dance. One is so relieved when lead character Charlie gains the friendships that help him negotiate all this, but the movie’s drama shows how Charlie’s problems are deeper than most’s, the friendship’s life-lines more important.
Though it’s mostly serious, the movie has plenty of fun and funny moments. It made me emotional at times, but those moments felt honest, not manipulative. The young actors are strong, though Emma Watson seemed a little hamstrung by having to focus on her American accent. A few details clunked, most notably that these music-obsessed teens were mystified as to the origins of David Bowie’s very famous song, “Heroes”. It also took me a while to locate the movie in time (late 80s / early 90s), though that may not be a critique.
I say, go see this one.
He says: I really liked that one. I don’t even know why I liked that one, because it seems to me not much happened, and usually I don’t like movies like that. But I really enjoyed this one.
Finally, the first Jeans’n’Classics concert led off this month with something I did listen to as a teenager: The Beatles: Rubber Soul and Revolver. Jean calls me a snob for this, but I still protest that following the old US releases of these albums rather than the more definitive UK / CD versions was a weird Boomer thing to do, particularly as it meant the omission of songs like “Love You to” (my favorite of the three Harrison songs on Revolver) and “And Your Bird Can Sing”. And the even more brilliant songs “Drive My Car” and “Nowhere Man” are only recent additions, tacked on at the end of Rubber Soul’s odd US play order.
From 
Michelle Williams, Ryan Gosling. A marriage at the end of its ropes is contrasted with the happy start of the relationship.
**** 
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