Roger Daltrey presents The Who’s Tommy

It was a long piece, but I knew if we could get to the “Listening to You” chorus, we’d be all right. We’d have them.

—Pete Townshend on performing Tommy

The raison d’être for Roger Daltrey’s latest tour—apart from his continued desire to keep performing for as long as he possibly can—is to present the Tommy album live in a way The Who never did: Playing the entire thing, in order, with the full complement of harmonies and keyboards and everything included on that iconic album.

Witnessing this Friday night, it became clear that there are a few problems with that approach. The original album is sequenced a bit weirdly, both story-wise and musically. And even with the dropping long, instrumental “Underture”, it’s quite long. So while you would certainly build and gain momentum through some sequences: 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, Christmas… Or particularly, Pinball Wizard, Tommy Can You Hear Me, Smash the Mirror… Momentum would then somewhat be lost by the necessity of then performing a lesser track like Sensation or Sally Simpson.

(“Is this still Tommy?” Jean asked, about three-quarters of the way through.)

That said, there was still plenty to enjoy about the live performance of this opera, and it wasn’t all the expected stuff. Like, for example, seeing Roger Daltrey, for the first time (that I know of) taking on the villain’s roles in “Cousin Kevin” and “Fiddle About”. He seemed to really relish those two roles (maybe nice to finally not be the in Tommy/victim role), and sank his acting chops into the interpretation. I can honestly say I’ve never enjoyed either of those songs more.

Tommy under Cousin Kevin's foot

30 years after being under Cousin Kevin’s boot, Daltrey finally gets to turn the table

Another surprise was just how enjoyable the silly little “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” song was—possibly because it is perhaps the only giddy moment in this rather grim little opera. It was totally fun.

And the songs you expected to be great… Really were great. Last time I saw Roger in concert, the microphone twirling was very limited and approached rather gingerly. But clearly the old man’s been practicing, because it was whipping around like nobody’s business during “Pinball Wizard” and the finale. It was impressive. See:

And speaking of that finale… I’ve seen many videotaped versions of The Who leading the crowd toward what seems an almost religious experience after Roger Daltrey sings the “See Me / Feel Me” chorus for the last time, and then everyone joins in on the “Listening to you / I get the music” chorus. But I’d never participated in that. And this crowd was fantastic. The second that moment came around, everyone was on their feet, rushing the stage, pumping their fists, singing along… It looked, sounded, and felt amazing. The ovation at the end was huge. Daltrey appeared really touched by it.

But how was the voice?

Last time I’d heard Daltrey perform, two years ago, the voice was not good. He’d even had to cancel some performances. So I felt grateful to have seen him perform at all. But that whole show, he was singing through a thick, nearly hoarse, rasp.

It was much, much better this time out. This isn’t to say it was perfect. Despite the humidifier going, the water, the tea, the strictly enforced smoking ban in theatre, the voice did crack on some of the high notes—for example, on the See Me / Feel Me part of “Christmas”. But it sounded beautiful on others — for example, on the See Me / Feel Part of “We’re Not Going to Take It”. And in the lower ranges, there were no issues at all.

(By the way, entire tour performances available from http://www.livedownloads.com/. I hear can now confirm that the Altanta show was particularly good – no voice cracking. )

The concert, Part 2

The second half of the show featured a variety of songs among the now rather large catalog Roger and his band have rehearsed. And where the Tommy had some unavoidable lulls, the second half was nothing but highlights, including (but not limited to):

  • A bluesy version of “My Generation”
  • A lovely take on my favorite Who song, “Behind Blue Eyes”
  • The Simon Townshend spotlight song, “Going Mobile”
  • An incendiary version of “Young Man’s Blues” (which Roger seems to love the irony of singing, now that he is the old man with all the money), complete with some highly showy microphone twirling, and integrations of the relatively rare Who track called “Water”.

Also fun was his solo track, “Days of Light”. And on “Baba O’Riley”, when he unbuttoned his shirt all the way (as the Toronto Sun’s [female] writer said, “it was an impressive display.” It’s not normal to get even more fit and muscular as you age, is it?), raised his arm, and his full head of hair was backlit, you were definitely reminded that this was the iconic rock God of the seventies, right there, right now, still.

Roger Daltrey - Baba O'Riley

Still a rock god

We want to be on stage, but we don’t want to be on a pedestal. We’re like you. I’m like you. That’s what this song says to me.

— Roger Daltrey, Toronto, September 30, 2011

Since I knew that the playlist for the second half varied from night to night, I was trying not to get my hopes up about any particular song being performed. But in truth, there is one I really wanted to hear: “Without Your Love”. [Because I’m a sap!] I was not to be disappointed on that front. He did a lovely job with it.

After that, he explained that they had a strict time limit for this particular performance, and performed one last song, the lovely “Red Blue and Grey”. I was feeling slightly miffed at apparently getting a shortened show, but you know, the thing started before 8:00 (with a quite good opening act), Roger and band took the stage somewhere between 8:30 and 8:45, and it was nearly 11:00 when it was over. No breaks.

I supposed 2-2.5 hours is a reasonable length of concert for a 67-year-old man who just had throat surgery.

Our seats

Though I tried not to fret overly much before attending this concert, one thing I did wonder about a bit was just how good our seats were, really. Turns out, they were really very good. We were in the fifth row, and though not right in the center, you could see everything really well. The only problem, really, is that is not very good seats for taking pictures and video. There was always a light right behind Roger’s head, which just washed out his face on film.

Roger Daltrey photo

One photo that didn’t turn out too badly

Fortunately, there were hundreds taking pictures and video there, so I’m not going to be deprived of that.

We did get talking to people before the show started. The guy beside us was kind of funny, as he didn’t seem entirely sure what he was about to see. And his question about how much the seat cost confused me a bit as well. Maybe he won his in in a contest? But, turns out he’d bought tickets from a scalper minutes before, so that explained that. He was a very friendly American from Florida, who’d last seen The Who perform around 1979.

And the people in the row in front us of turned out to be from Waterloo as well. But they’d bought their tickets on Tuesday! This Tuesday! Ticketmaster, I bought my tickets the day they went on sale. Why did these people get better ones, four days before the show? (They said it wasn’t from a reseller or anything.)

[Almost forgot about some lady behind us—apparently not such a big fan—who was nearly freaking out at having been told how long the show would be. Kind of funny.]

Anyway. The important thing is I was really close to Roger Daltrey again, and in fact, even managed to go stand right in front of the stage by evening’s end. (Even though we didn’t make eye contact this time.)

The band

The set list was actually somewhat similar to that of the 2009 Use It or Lose It tour, but it sure has acquired a professional sheen on this tour. In introducing his band, Roger said that they were “the best band I have ever played with.” Now, I don’t know if he’s including The Who among the bands he has played with, but there is no denying he has assembled a fantastic group of musicians here. They provide beautiful backup harmonies throughout, and completely solid musical accompaniment.

I also kind of met them before the show. As I was asking Jean if he remembered seeing what was likely Roger Daltrey’s limo drive past us when were walking over to the Orillia show two years ago [he didn’t], a big limo bus pulled up to the stage entrance of the Sony Centre. So we ambled over to see who would get off. Clearly, we did not meet Mr. Daltrey, or even the young Mr. Townshend. But we did see the keyboard player, and the drummer, and musical director and lead guitarist Frank Simes was particularly nice with all the fans.

Meeting Frank before the show

The famous-only-by-association Frank Simes

Our buddy Frank

Our buddy Frank on stage

The crowd

I’ve already mentioned them a few times, but it was a great crowd. (The place looked sold out to me; I don’t know if it actually was.) Mostly boomers, of course, but a number of them brought their teenage kids, so that made for a nice younger contingent. I could sense (and hear, in all the singalongs) a real diehard Who crowd. Jean, who didn’t have such a constant laser focus on the man onstage, spent more time actually looking at the crowd and enjoying how much they were enjoying it.

And I’ll leave the last words to Jean.

You know, I didn’t hate that. I didn’t hate that at all.

It’s really high praise.

Worth the gamble

At our last dinner at Verses, several of us agreed that while Sole restaurant had many fine qualities, consistently good-quality food wasn’t one of them. You could get a pretty good meal there. Or you get a pretty mediocre. It was a bit of a crap shoot.

But, anytime I’ve been there for a special wine-food pairing dinner, they’ve always done an excellent job. So I was willing to try their September local food special, which is as follows:

“Sledgers” Organic Micro Greens
… hemp seed and lemon vinaigrette, fresh peaches, “Pingue” natural prosciutto

2009 Semi Dry Riesling 3 oz

Jumbo Scallop
… beet marinated, sweet pea and mint puree, pancetta cup

2010 Unoaked Chardonnay 3 oz

Tomato Mille Feuille
… roasted “Elmira’s Own” cherry tomatoes, “Woolwich” goat cheese, puff pastry, dill pesto

2010 Pinot Meunier 3 oz

Ontario Duck
… Roasted “Brome Lake” duck breast, zucchini fritter, heirloom carrots, red currant compote, cassis jus

2009 Elevation Cabernet 3oz

“Rosenburg” Blue Cheese
… green apple sorbet, pear chips

2008 Cabernet Ice Wine 1 oz

Five Course Preset Dinner $ 50 per person, Wine Pairing $ 30 per person

I have to say, everything was just delicious. The scallop was perfectly cooked. The mille feuille had a great texture and nice balance of flavors. The cassis jus nicely accompanied the medium-rare duck. The green apple sorbet was a highlight of the dessert.

The wines were lovely, too. I wasn’t that familiar with Vineland Estates, but now I’m interested in checking them out. The off-dry Riesling and the Pinot Meunier (wonderful nose on that one) were highlights, but they all worked well. And I’d never had Cabernet Sauvignon ice wine before.

The service was very prompt and very friendly. We are a little spoiled, though, as we were somewhat expecting a full explanation of each dish, but they don’t really do that at Solé. So we just kept asking questions:

  • What’s the sauce?
  • What are these things on the scallop?
  • Which type of wine is this?
  • What year is the wine?

And so on. Occasionally our waitress could answer, but very often she had to go running back to get the information. She always did, though.

The only other minor complaint was that the serving sizes could have been a tad smaller, for five courses. But it wasn’t crazy sized, and in the end, the only dish that I couldn’t manage all of was the duck.

So, I’d say this one is a good bet (and a good deal) at Solé. You have five more days to try it out.

Fall means new TV

Last year at this time, I was complaining that so many summer shows were still on, I had no time to check out any new programs. This year, that’s not the case. Both dancing shows are done (one permanently—sniff!), Mad Men is not on until March or something, Flashpoint took a hiatus… My PVR’s been near empty for weeks.

But I need a distraction from the news, which I’ve been particularly depressing of late. So I’ve decided to audition a number of new shows, to see if any are worth sticking with.

Best new show (so far)

Completely unfair to judge this yet, as I haven’t even watched all the new shows I intend. And just one episode isn’t much to go on. Nevertheless, I feel I should mention CBC’s Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays (which, confusingly, actually plays on Wednesdays) as I suspect most haven’t heard of it. It’s a half hour comedy, pretty simple premise: Michael has been in therapy for 15 years for various social phobias. His doctor is writing a book about it.

Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s funny. And feels true. And it has women characters as well, and they even get to talk to each other (not about men). And it’s fun spotting the various Ottawa locations in use. And being Canadian, it’s both unlikely to overstay its welcome, or get cancelled prematurely—at least this season. CBC has no doubt ordered a certain number of episodes, all of which it will broadcast.

New shows I’m checking out only because of the cast

1. The Secret Circle

Because it features the delicious Gale Harold, whom I loved in Queer as Folk, here playing a very nasty warlock. It’s a show about teenage witches in a small town. And based on one episode, it’s… exactly what you’d expect a show about teenage witches in a small town to be. So far, not promising to be more, à la Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But still, enough entertainment factor there for me to return for more episodes and see how it goes.

2. Ringer

Speaking of Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar is back in this new series, playing identical twin sisters. Boy, has this one received mixed reviews, some really dire. And sure, the premise is fairly ridiculous, but again based on only one episode, I’m willing to give it a few more views to see how it develops.

3. New Girl

This one stars Zooey Deschanel, and its main selling is most definitely that it stars Zooey Deschanel. It is totally running on her personal charisma. I found the first episode OK. It had some funny moments. I know feminist me is supposed to be offended by her manic pixie dream girl persona, but in a season also giving us a redone Charlie’s Angels and The Playboy Club, (and I’m not so sure about Pan Am, either) it’s hard to work up the outrage.

Returning shows I’m looking forward to

1. The Mentalist

This is one I never would have picked before. Not that I dislike The Mentalist, but it’s more Jean’s show, just one I also don’t mind watching, because the characters are fun and have good interaction.

But I have to say that last season’s finale really blew me away. It was completely gripping in and of itself, in a way that show isn’t usually, it apparently resolved the Red John storyline that had underlined the series since its start (but had become increasingly and a somewhat absurdly convoluted), and in way that I really didn’t expect but still didn’t seem unrealistic at all.

Now, I just can’t wait to see how they get Jayne out of this, and back to helping the CBI solve crimes. (They promise it won’t all have been a dream.)

2. Big Bang Theory

Here’s another show that went out last season with an ending both surprising and realistic, and it should be great fun watching all this unravel. I love this show for its consistent ability to make me laugh out loud. For real.

3. Battle of the Blades

Because the only hockey players I want to see are those wearing figure skates.

Returning shows I’m not sure I’ll keep returning to

I’ve already decided to drop the too-uneven How I Met Your Mother, and I’m not sure about these two:

1. Glee

Because in the past, no matter how bad this show sometimes got mid-season (and it could get pretty bad), it always seemed to pull together a finale that made me love it again. But last season? Holy geez, that was crappy. Replaying the Quinn-Finn-Jessie-Rachel love triangle again? Seriously? It’s the night before Nationals, and they haven’t even written the songs they’re going to perform yet? What?

And having made Coach Sylvester a total cartoon then decided we all needed to cry over her sister, what the heck will they do with her next? And apparently they had some reality show this summer to pick new cast members.

I don’t know, Glee. You’re sitting on the PVR there, but I’m not feeling in a big hurry to press Play.

2. Bones

Brennan and Booth and baby. Boring!

And for a bit of dancing

I have been checking out Nico Archambault’s Ils Dansent, focusing on the training of 10 male dancers. With no dropping of one dancer each week! Just learning new and increasingly complex choreography. Nice-looking show. And I can certainly use the weekly exposure to the French language.

Movie reviews: Two films based on novels

One that I’ve read, one that I have not (but now think I’d like to)…

*** A Single Man (December 2009) – Rental
Colin Firth, Julianne Moore. A man decides to end his life after the accidental death of his partner, and enjoy his last day.

She says: I found this movie really compelling while watching it, and feel even more impressed after thinking back on it more. It’s very simple, really, all taking place on one fairly ordinary day, but rendered special by the main character deciding this day will be his last. I’d never seen the subtle but effective use of color tone to reflect the character’s mood. And the whole movie is gorgeous; get the Blu-Ray.
He says: That’s two hours I’ll never get back.

***½ The Help (August 2011) – Theatre
Viola Davis, Emma Stone. A white woman and a black housekeeper convince a group of other black housekeepers to contribute to an anonymous book about what their lives are like in 1962-ish Mississippi.

She says: I have no idea what this movie is like for someone who hasn’t just read (and enjoyed) the book. But I had, and I really enjoyed this adaptation. I thought they did a good job of capturing the essence of the novel, even with the necessary simplifying and condensing necessary for a movie. And it was a great job of casting.
He says: They did a good job with that, didn’t they! [He also just finished reading the book. Or whatever it is you call listening to the full audio version, which is what we did together on our last road trip…]

Ontario votes

My bold predication for the Ontario election: Elizabeth Witmer, MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo, will retain her seat.

When voters turned against the Mike Harris, when they ran from John Tory’s school funding proposal, Ms Witmer, Progressive Conservative, still handily won her seat. She’s been in there for something like 21 years. She certainly not going to lose now, when the PCs are riding a “we’re tired of the Liberals!” wave.

This means, under our most undemocratic of electoral systems, me voting is just a waste of time. I am not voting PC, but whether I vote Green, Liberal, NDP, or Marxist-Leninist, whether I spoil my ballot or just sit at home watching TV, the result will the same. Ms. Witmer’s most votes will give the whole seat, and the choice I made will make no difference at all in who runs Ontario.

I will say I don’t have any particular issues with Ms. Witmer. Generally, I think she has been a good representative. And if Ontarians had been smart enough to change their electoral system four years ago, when they had a chance, I might have even have considered voting for her as my MPP, while selecting another party with my second vote.

But, Ontarians didn’t want more democracy, so we have the system we have, and a vote for Ms. Witmer is a vote for Tim Hudak. And I can’t do that.

I’ll grant that my distaste for Mr. Hudak was perhaps not on the most solid basis, initially: The man is just horribly boring to listen to. All he does is repeat sound bites, that nearly always contain the word “tax”. Tax grab. Sneaky eco-tax. Taxman. Tax on home heating.

It’s the most excruciating thing to listen to. (I’ve heard that Queen’s Parks reporters routinely leave his press conferences early, since all he does is repeat his boring lines over and over.) Four years of that? Not sure I can handle it.

Since then, though, he’s given some reasons of more substance to not vote for his party.

The numbers don’t work

As pointed out by that paragon of lefty, socialist thinking, The Toronto Sun, the PC’s economic plan doesn’t add up. Tax reductions and no cuts to education and health sounds great, but how do you pay for it? Truth is that after education and health, there isn’t a whole lot left to cut. So what’s the plan, here? Letting the deficit rise exponentially? Praying for miraculous growth in Ontario’s economy?

(Yes, all the parties are being somewhat unrealistic in their fiscal promises. The PCs are just the most so.)

Update: A rather damning and very detailed examination of just how much the numbers don’t work, courtesy of the Centre for Policy Alternatives. Graphs in Conservative Changebook misleading: At least three of the graphs present data that is clearly false. All of the others contain major errors.

Taxes probably will go up under Hudak

I’m not saying he’ll raise provincial taxes or the HST. But as several have pointed, he will not say whether he will continue to take over the cost of certain municipal programs, as the Liberals plan to do. If he does not (and remember he does have to cut somewhere), it is likely our municipal taxes will increase. OK, they always increase. But they will increase more. And unlike with provincial and federal taxes, which give credits for things like RRSP and charitable donations, there’s nothing you can do to protect your income against those ones.

Addition: The anti-green energy stance

Mr. Hudak wants a better world for his daughter (which I believe), but he’d cancel every green energy project he could? While there do seem to be some flaws in the Liberals handling of the alternative energy file, from what I’ve read, I still applaud the general direction. I believe it’s one of the most progressive in North America. It’s even earned a rare, specific endorsement from David Suzuki!

Xenophobia

Why are politicians allowed to bald-faced lie during elections campaigns, again? In election ads, which can’t be dismissed as an unfortunate slip of the tongue?

Because nothing, nothing has been more appalling to me than this party’s response to the Liberals plans to give tax credits for immigrants who are having trouble finding jobs in their field.

Hudak calls them “foreign workers”. He says the funding will go “outside Ontario”. “Ontarians need not apply.”

But only Canadian citizens would qualify for this tax credit—being a landed immigrant would not be enough. And it’s only for jobs in Ontario.

Hudak is just lying, and in the most xenophobic, divisive, hateful way possible.

Now, I don’t know that the Liberal plan is that wonderful. That professionals who immigrate have trouble finding work in their field is a real problem; I’m not sure how much this would solve it. And I don’t think comparing the PCs to the Tea Party is all that helpful a response, either.

But I do know that all Canadians are equal, no matter how long they’ve been Canadian. And if one group is being particularly discriminated against, it is reasonable for the government to see if something can be done to rectify that.

I won’t vote a party that promotes near-racism.

Unfortunately, what I do won’t make a difference.

Rest of Ontario: Good luck to you. Sorry I can’t be more help.

Twinning

On the long weekend, we happened to see two productions involving the concept of doubles.

Another Earth posterFirst up was the movie Another Earth, in which a mirror image of our planet suddenly appears in the sky. It seems to be identical, right down to the cities. Who are the inhabitants? Are they duplicates, too? A millionaire runs a lottery to allow the lucky winners to get a trip there to find out.

Though it all sounds very sci-fi, it’s really more of an indie drama. The focus is on the main character, Rhoda Williams, whose inebriated self gets so distracted by the appearance of Earth Two that she crashes into another car, killing a woman and child, and putting a man into a coma. She goes to prison; the man eventually emerges from the coma. All this happens in the first 15 minutes or so.

The rest focuses on Rhoda’s post-prison life, and her attempts to make amends. She visits the man to apologize, but loses her nerve and says she’s offering a cleaning service instead. She ends up his regular housekeeper, and they get to know each other—the secret remaining concealed. Meanwhile, she’s fascinated by the idea of Earth Two, and maybe starting over there.

It’s an uncomfortable film. It starts with a terrible tragedy and continues with a deception that you know has to blow up at some point. But it’s intriguing as well, and stays with you, pondering the big questions. All on a small budget.

If you can handle the premise, I’d recommend it.

Twelfth Night at StratfordNext was much lighter fare: William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, as directed by Des McAnuff at Stratford. That is the one with the twins, Viola and Sebastian, who get mistaken for one another after Viola disguises herself as a man.

The production is excellent. Just hilarious, set in a kind of 60s era with a soundtrack to match, with a strong cast, including Brian Dennehy as Sir Toby. I admit I was a bit daunted at its 3 hours, 7 minutes running time, but it goes by really quickly. Highlights include the Viola / Sir Andrew sword “fight” (mostly sword avoidance) and the choreographed spying on Malvolio as he reads the love letter he believes to be from Olivia. Ben Carlson as Feste also has a lovely singing voice.

Now, the whole thing does require one to ignore the scientific knowledge we now have that identical twins cannot, by definition, be of different genders. But the very distinctive outfits Sebastian / “Cesario” wear make that work OK (particularly from our cheap discounts seats).

And as many Shakespeare comedies, one has to accept character that are remarkably flexible in their romantic affections. Orsino is supposedly desperately in love with Olivia throughout the production, but can switch to Viola on a dime once it’s clear she’s not a dude. Olivia is not the least upset that she’s actually married to Sebastian despite thinking she married “Cesario”. Though particularly delightful is her reaction to seeing both Sebastian and Cesario for the first time: Double the fun!

Anatomy of a high school reunion

The impetus for our trip earlier in August was my Grade 13 high school reunion. Upon hearing I was going to that, people had some funny reactions.

“Are you nervous?”

Which I just found confusing. Nervous about… What, exactly? It’s not like I had to give a speech, or hang-glide, or compete in a test of skill. It was just go there, meet people, eat, drink.

But I now realize this is a by-product of the high school reunion being such a popular culture trope, the occasion where dramatic things happen: Where old hurts are avenged. Where one attempts to hide what you’ve actually become (Romey and Michelle’s High School Reunion; that episode of Taxi where Louis has Bobby pretend to be him). Or, where one attempts to show you’re no longer that loser you were in high school (as Liz did fairly recently on 30 Rock).  Or where old romances are rekindled. Or time travel occurs (Peggy Sue Got Married).

For the record, if there was any avenging /deception /bragging /romancing / time travelling going on that weekend, I wasn’t involved.

“Why would you want to see those people again?”

How about this: I’m not on Facebook. So, I was kind of curious how people turned out. High school wasn’t altogether wonderful, but Grade 13 was definitely the best year. A smaller, closer group of people that I was curious about.

I have to think it will be so different for the Facebook generation (which is spreading to every age group, really). With virtual reunions going on continually, how necessary will actual ones be?

The stats

I was quite impressed with the organization of the whole event by the small committee who took it on. One thing they did was put together a spreadsheet of contact information, from which I could glean the following:

  • Original class size: 80 (though I don’t think quite all made it through the entire year)
  • In attendance at the reunion: 37 (46%)
  • Deceased: 2

Remaining numbers are just for those in attendance, plus 4 who provided info via email after—bold for the group I’m in:

  • Married or now divorced: 40 (97%)
  • Child-free: 7 (17%)
  • In the medical profession: 11 (26%)
  • In education: 12 (29%)
  • In high tech: 3 (7%)
  • Living in Timmins: 19 (46%)
  • Living in Ottawa: 5 (12%)
  • Living in KW: 1 (2%)
  • Living in Toronto: 0 (0%)

How we looked

Kind of like this:

Class photo

My brother said that people at a high school reunion looked like the same, only with “swelling”. Funny, but not totally true. Sure, there was some swelling, but some seemed to have lost weight since high school, and many looked to be about the same size as then.

And at any rate, it was hair that really made the difference. The only people I had trouble recognizing were those with much less hair, different colored hair, or more facial hair.  This resulted in a number of conversations with people who clearly knew me, who I also felt I recognized, but couldn’t quite pinpoint—until partway through the conversion (and after the welcoming hug). Very strange feeling.

Did other schools do this?

Other parts of the excellent organization included:

  • Showing a recording of our Grade 13 talent night
  • Re-creating our Grade 13 room (now a storage room) at the high school, and allowing us to restore our autographs to the wall (as they were rudely painted over)

Which led me to wondering, did other schools do those things? Did everyone in Grade 13 get a special room to hang out in? Did everyone put on a Soirée des Treize?

Working on the talent night is something I definitely remember. I believe the purpose was to raise money for our Grad celebration. I wrote a sketch for it that actually proved controversial. It was an ad for a 20-minute workout featuring celebrities. They were fine with the Queen (me) leading everyone in a royal wave, and even with Mick Jagger demonstrating some vigorous pelvic thrusting (well, it was a French school). But the Pope having everyone bend down and kiss the ground? A little dodgy for a school full of Catholics. And Pierre Trudeau giving everyone the finger? Turns out that means the same thing in French as in English.

So you see, I’ve always been a rebel. 🙂

I think in the end we got to keep the Pope (even though the enthusiastic performer was practically French-kissing the microphone in his performance of the move), but had to substitute in a smoking René Levesque for the swearing PET. (Interestingly, the cigarette in the hands of high school students was not considered the least bit controversial then.)

Notes on folks

A lot of the old gang was there, the same but different.

MJD, still sweet and pretty and fun, but also now a well-loved family doctor whose move from Timmins to Ottawa made it into a nation-wide story on the CBC.

IC, still fun and funny and outspoken, but also abandoned a law career for some volunteer work in the third world, and then his own contracting business. An interesting person, then and now.

FLB, the old boyfriend, as gorgeous now as he was then, but having dismissed thoughts of the priesthood (!) and acquired three university degrees, now settled into a long-term marriage with four kids, and long-time employment with the same high-tech company.

With these and others, it was funny how easily we fell back into the groove (and the old crowds, in large part). One of the teachers there recalled our year as a “special” one—and I think that was meant in a good way. I believe it could be true.

Movie review: Three we agreed on

***½ Toy Story 3 (June 2010) – Rental
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen. A transitional period in the toys’ “lives” as Andy prepares to go to college.

She says: Nothing to complain about in this “kid’s” movie which, to my amusement, was happily watched by four adults, no kids. It was by turns funny, touching, and exciting, all edited into a story that held together beautifully. Proof that sequels don’t have to suck, even when they get to number 3.
He says: What part was supposed to make me cry?

Friends with Benefits poster*** Friends with Benefits (July 2010) – Theatre
Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake. Tired of failed romantic relationships, two friends decide to add sex to the mix without the complications. Then it gets complicated.

She says: I find both Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake very appealing as actors, so was willing to go along and root for them as they went through the romantic comedy plotline, even as their characters openly mocked the romantic comedy. No must-see, but doesn’t insult your intelligence, and not bad characters to spend time with.
He says: That was a chick flick. [She says: So, you didn’t like it?] I didn’t say that.

*** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (July 2011) – Theatre

Daniel Radcliffe, Ruper Grint, Emma Watson. It’s the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort.

She says: I think this one was oversold to me. It certainly wasn’t bad. It looked great (this would be the 2D version), it had the fine cast of British actors, as always, and I definitely wasn’t bored by it. But the claim that it was so much better than any other in the series? I didn’t find that.
He says: It was just OK, right? It lacked suspense and narrative drive. I’ve liked some of the other ones better.

A Taste of Canada in Ottawa

For the Ottawa portion of our trip, we booked a package called Taste of Canada that included hotel accommodations, entry to the War Museum and National Gallery, and $100 off dinner at Signatures Bistro. These were the highlights.

Being car-free

The reason we were car-free despite this being a road trip is that we experienced a broken wheel bearing on the car while in Timmins. And in Timmins, you can’t get Audi parts. So, we booked an appointment for the car in Ottawa and dropped the car off there on arrival, after a rather noisy (and lengthy) trip.

The circumstances weren’t ideal, but you don’t really need a car when being a tourist in Ottawa. Particularly as we were staying at the well-located Lord Elgin Hotel. And though we could have taken advantage of their pretty good bus system, instead, boy did we walk. To the War Museum and back. Along the canal. To Parliament Hill at night, where they were projecting images onto the House of Commons. (Very cool.) And of course, to and around the market.

House of Commons

Supreme Court of Canada

Dining mostly per Where to Eat in Canada

It’s good we were that active, because there may have been eating involved as well.

The first day’s walk was in the rain, so we went to Murray Street. Last time here we’d arrived drenched; this time we were merely damp. Murray Street is very casual, with very friendly service, and has excellent food. We skipped the appetizers, though, and I had the deer fricasse while Jean had the quail. He declared his perfect, but my meat was a little dry. No complaints about the sauce and veggies, though. Or the petit syrah (CA) we drank. I also enjoyed the nanaimo dessert.

For lunch the next day, we tried Play, which was new to us. It specializes in small plates, with glasses of wine suggested with each. I had the gnocchi with peas, endamame, and Parmesan, which was delicious. And the recommended Appleby Pinot. Jean had the mussels with smoked tomato and chorizo, which he also liked, though not as much as my dish. And a Sauvignon Blanc with an unusual taste. For dessert, I had lavendar creme brulee with peach conserve and maple, and a French Muscat, which was very neat tasting—not overly sweet. Jean had a cheese plate with port.

For dinner that day, we tried another new one, Navarra. It specializes in the unusual. It was also remarkably small, with its 20 table packed in tight.

I decided to be daring and order the bone marrow appetizer. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was indeed a couple large cow leg bones, from which you had to extract the marrow with a little fork. There were also olives, bread, and roasted red peppers. Everything tasted good—even the marrow, which had a mild beef taste. But frankly, it kind of freaked me out.

Jean meanwhile, had ordered the lamb prosciutto. only to find it very heavy on the salad greens, which aren’t really his thing. So, we traded. I founded his Parmesan-laced salad delicious (the lamb was just so-so; I would have preferred it more crispy); and he found the marrow the best part of the whole meal.

On to mains. I had sea scallops, which tasted good, but boy did they seem overcooked. Affected the texture. And Jean had the gnocchi, which he liked, though he found it pretty spicy. So this was an uneven one. (We had a couple glasses of the house wines, which were fine, but not exciting.)

But desserts, we had no complaints about. And the service was very good.

Navarra dessert

Other Navarra dessert

The final meal of note was at Signatures Bistro. It was our first time since it had been transformed into bistro style, and lost a star in Where to Eat in Canada. But the room still looked very grand, with white linens and all. And the food? Pretty damn amazing.

I started with the asparagus soup with gnocchi, which was as a surprise, as I had been expecting more gnocchi, less soup. But the soup was the best part. Just so fresh and delicious. And my main was a duck magret with beet foam, rhubarb, and cherry compote. Oh my, God. Amazing,

Jean seemed pretty happy with his escargot appetizer and pork main, as well. And certainly his cheese plate dessert. Me, I went with chocolate ganache with ice cream.

Though we didn’t have as many people tending our table as before, the service was still excellent. Except at the very end, when our waiter just… disappeared. Very strange, and unlikely to have happened in the old days. (Maybe he was out looking for their missing star rating.)

And the museums?

We did use our two museum entries. The National Gallery was featuring a Caravaggio exhibit that showed his influence on other painters of his time. It was interesting, seeing how different artists inspired each to take on similar themes and styles. In some cases it was difficult to tell one from the other. But on a pure art level, we weren’t totally blown away.

The War Museum had a special exhibit on medicine in wartime. You kind of got a tour through the different types of injuries soldiers suffered, and how these were treated through history. (Much better now!) The whole thing was a bit gruesome, but it was the infections featured near the end that I had the most trouble with. Eew. And the very last part was on psychological injuries, like post-traumatic stress. Oy.

And then we had the rest of the museum to see. We joked that we hoped it was cheerier, like “the lighter side of war”. But by comparison, it actually was. Like to explain the War of 1812, they had a film of French and English Canadian sitting together commenting on a documentary about it. Then partway through their Native friends pipes up. “Jim, when you did get here?” “Me? I’ve always been here!” I thought that was funny.

Mr. Layton

I know, like we need more commentary on this. I’ll try to be brief.

I’ve been surprised by the strong response to Jack Layton’s death. I’ve been just as surprised how much I share in the feeling. Like going to track down what you think is an obscure song and finding it in the iTunes top 10.

So many Canadians were tweeting on the day of his death, RIP Jack Layton trended not only in Canada, but worldwide, leading to puzzled members of the global twitter-verse to respond with items like, “RIP Jack Layon. Whoever you are.”

That was kind of funny.

A lot of people have said they felt very sad about his death even though they’d never voted NDP. Me, I actually did vote for that party while he was leading it. Heck, I even attended a rally of his once. I’d like to say it was terribly inspiring, but the truth is, I left a little underwhelmed. I think that was his first campaign as NDP leader, and he still had some work to do in learning to inspire the troupes.

But he did get better at that, I thought, even as pragmatism had me voting Liberal the last couple elections. Since that party’s rather stunning performance in the last election, and the equally stunning reaction to his death, of course there has been a lot of attempts at analysis. Most notorious was Christie Blatchford’s, who accused Canadians of show and Layton of cynical manipulation. It’s not just that it was too soon (mere hours after he died); I think she was just wrong, on both counts.

John Doyle, Globe TV critic (of all things), was one of those who, I think. got it more right. Jack persisting through that campaign, which looked hopeless for the NDP at the outset, armed with that cane, yet refusing to give up. Shades (pale shades, but nevertheless) of another Canadian icon, Terry Fox. The man dies, but the movement…? That remains to be seen.

I know some people who just don’t get this whole thing. Who didn’t like him that much, who just don’t feel it, who are tired of hearing about it. Which I can appreciate, because even though I share in the feeling, this “week of Jack” has been a bit much.

But still, I just had to watch the funeral. Which was kind of amazing. Very inclusive (French / English / native, multi-denominational, gay / straight), funny, sad, moving. When Stephen Lewis describe Jack’s letter as “ultimately, a manifesto for social democracy” and got his first of several standing ovations, I thought, “the Conservatives are in trouble.” I’m bad at political prognostication, so I could be wrong about that. But who knows. Optimism is better than despair, right? I think someone said that.

And the opening of that eulogy also, I think, hit the nose on why so many have been so unexpectedly affected by this.

Never in our collective lifetime have we have seen such an outpouring, so much emotional intensity, from every corner of this country. Jack was so alive, so much fun, so engaged in daily life with so much gusto and so unpretentious, it was hard to focus, when he was alive, on how important that was to us, until he was gone…. Jack simply radiated an authenticity, an honesty, and a commitment to his ideals that, we now realize, we were thirsting for.

He tapped into a yearning that politics be conducted in a different way and in that difference, would emerge a better Canada.

Here’s to a better Canada. Thanks, Jack.