Flotilla at Sunset on Key West

Sat on the dock and watched the sun go down, then unexpectedly a whole string of spectacular sailing ships went by right in front of us... a great end to the trip to Key West...

Pelican's on Bahia Honda

I had just swum through an immense school of flashing silver fish... felt like a million fish all around me... and then these guys appeared to appreciate the little fish in a different kind of way...

houses and stripes

a few more pics of the amazing houses in Key West...and one of Lisa looking tropical....

the keys

So in my last post (from a month or two ago) I had to force my way through a mountain of snow to take the snap of that car submerged by a blizzard. And now I'm sitting under a fan in Key West watching the palms blow in the sun. Sometimes procrastination works well ... We're taking time between Lisa's research on her Home book and my show in Orlando to visit the Keys. I haven't been down here for oh... since I was seven... I remember beaches and heat and limes and it seems things haven't changed that much... The picture above is from the veranda of Hemingway's house in Key West with a view of the lighthouse that dominates that part of the Island. Below is Bahia Honda national park, where I spent much of my time as a tiny tanned child... absolutely stunning beach...




The architecture in Key West is amazing... the old Conch houses were built by Shipwrights and have stood up to 150 years of hurricanes. The island was spared any wave of renovation in the mid-20th century because the depression apparently hit it quite hard and it stayed depressed until the 60's when people actually began to pay attention to all the historic houses. Now its a bit touristy and bit overdeveloped around the edges, but the historic centre is just stunning with enourmous Key Lime trees hanging over the houses and gardens filled with Palms. We had a great time just walking around and around the island.






One of the surprisingly non-cheesy highlights of Key West is the Pirate museum. We went expecting a good dose of fake and kitchy pirate themed rooms, but it turns out to be the private collection of a billionaire who has been collecting pirate paraphernalia for years and has put it all on public display. Real gold from Blackbeard's sunken ship. Guns and knives that belonged to Pirate kings, maps pulled from pirate ships and (one of the highlights) an actual treasure chest that belonged to a Pirate that was left behind when he left for his final journey, and never made it back... steel plate inside, a huge locking system inside the lid and a secret lock makes it all look very useful for holding pirate treasure...

Yes, well

I'm not sure any comment is necessary for this picture...apart from something like 'Ah, Canada...' (though for those not in the know the info that the immense moose statues perched on this guys roof are also wearing the Toronto Hockey Team and Baseball team jersey might help you appreciate the beauty of the moment....)

A Night out in Toronto the Good, and strange

So, I wandered out to see an Icelandic new music/pop band play at the Drake hotel which a relatively pretentious art hotel that has a couple of venues and they were fine, a little minimalist, but kind of charming, in a artlessly artful kind of way. And then I wandered on over to the Gladstone to see if I could get a burger... well, the kitchen was closed, but it was probably because everyone in the hotel, and most likely the chefs as well, were in the Ballroom, watching a new local sport that's cropped up here - competitive pillow fighting... I'm not sure how much is the lure of sport or how much is the lure of watching girls in pigtails and little kilts whack each other with pillows....





luckily the lakeview lunch was still open on the way home... so I managed to get a grilled cheese and fries in one of it's faded art deco diner booths

Snow Day

We're almost over the 1939 record snowfall! It is spectacular around the city.



This is the kind of winter that I remember as a kid in NYC.

and Ok, I don't drive, so I'm allowed to just enjoy it. However, to get back to an earlier post about the cost of snow removal, CBC broadcast a whole show on the economic and environmental problems with the way we cope with snow in Canada, and its pretty devastating. Apparently in Sweden they don't salt and the snow removal is much more basic, everyone has to have studded tires and the expectation is that in winter you are going to have to cope with the weather and the problems. Currently the cost of snow removal in Toronto is up to 48 Million bucks and they are forecasting going over budget for the upcoming year... They interviewed a guy who'd been given a ticket for parking on a snowy street the day after the big snow storm - his car was out in the street enough to block all the Streetcars and therefore all the public transit. And he was screaming in anger at the City since they hadn't cleared the street enough for him to park conveniently... talk about a feeling of entitlement...

Anyway... rant over... I'm gonna go walk the dog and watch her leap into the snowbanks...

In the Lap of Greatness

One of my Heroes... Glenn Gould sits very (very) quietly in front of the CBC studios on Front St. in Toronto with his trademark gloves and hat and scarf. One of Canada's true, fabulous, brilliant eccentrics. I'd put a link to his foundation's site... but it is so, so dull and he was so wacky and wild and always fascinating....so here's a youtube link to a very young Glenn at the piano... and if you want to hear about his life long obsession with Petula Clark, then click here

Favs

Well, I think this is my favourite audience photo ever... they are hilarious... Look at the variety of reactions in this photo... shock, horror, denial, total delight...wouldn't it be great, occasionally, in theatre to get this kind of reaction from an audience.... Although, when I think about it, a couple of nights ago I saw a piece by Ian Mozden at the Rhubarb theatre festival here that was about castration, that probably saw me making some of those gestures...

The people in this photo are actually watching a film during an amateur porn festival. Yeesh! One doesn't want to think about what they're seeing! The story, if you want to read the details, is here

A first for everything

OK, my first political blog... has to be done...

copied from a very fine politics site http://talkingpointsmemo.com/



The Washington Post, has a story on today's front page under the concise headline, "The Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists"; about the undeniable conflict of McCain, the chest-beating reformer, being so undeniably close to lobbyists. The man who's absurdly proclaimed that "I’m the only one the special interests don’t give any money to" is surrounded by lobbyists.

And

The story involves quite a roll call:

-- "His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications."

-- "His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways."

-- "Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae."

-- "McCain recently hired Mark Buse to be his Senate chief of staff. Buse led the Commerce Committee staff in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was until last fall a lobbyist for ML Strategies, representing eBay, Goldman Sachs Group, Cablevision, Tenneco and Novartis Pharmaceuticals."

-- "McCain's top fundraising official is former congressman Tom Loeffler (R-Tex.), who heads a lobbying law firm called the Loeffler Group. He has counseled the Saudis as well as Southwest Airlines, AT&T, Toyota and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America."

McCain, of course, insists that he's incorruptible. During yesterday's press conference, he proclaimed “I’ve never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group — that’s a clear, 24-year record.” Maybe he just keeps all those lobbyists around to test his fortitude.

and here's a compilation of McCain's ideas about the war... and how its never ever ever going to end until we have the kind of Iraqi govt and country that we, since we know best, need to have there...

Yes sir, that's my baby

Ow... my fingers hurt... the tips of my left hand are turning into peeling calluses and the fingernails on my right are wearing away quicker than I can grow them. I'm back practicing for hours every day, and this little instrument is being mean to my hands. I haven't spent this much time on an instrument for years,probably since I left music school. Its kind of incredibly frustrating and kind of incredibly calming... - the hours go by, its just you against the music and trying to achieve the sound that you can hear in your head and that you can't quite arrive at yet. Very clear cut thing to be doing. And a beautiful thing it is .. Mahogany, rosewood, abalone, spruce, flamed american maple... such lovely woods that it takes to make a good guitar...

Snowbucks

So... the snow didn't arrive, the temperature rose and now its raining and the sidewalks are little rivers of melting slush. Too bad for me... good for the Motorists. (as long as the watery roads and sidewalks don't freeze tonight... in which case we're all screwed...)

but, but

But!!!!

the city of Toronto, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to spend 21 million dollars in the next few days clearing the snow from the streets. Toronto Star story here..

21 million dollars!

Now I realize that all this snow piling up is an inconvenience... and probably an immense one for anyone elderly or handicapped and stuck at home. But the city isn't clearing the sidewalks ... they're clearing the roads, so people can park. When last I looked the streets were all relatively clear, and people were coping with a limited number of spots, or doing their own dirty work and clearing the road in front of their house.

If I can be selfish for a moment, think of what 20 million dollars would do if they could drop that into the arts funding for the city. It would totally transform the upcoming year for the arts in Toronto. Or daycare, or immigrant services, or name your target market for people who could use that money.

anyway... it pisses me off and I can't help wonder if its a lovely little cash grab by the city workers. Clear snow over 'family day' and get double time and a half. When I lived in Montreal the city would spend the winter clearing the streets with these huge convoys of trucks and flamethrowers. The snow would trail off, but in late march we'd get one more snowfall, usually of only a couple of inches - nothing when you'd spent five months living with several feet of snow. But the city would spring into action and every city worker would be on the job attacking those two inches. I found this totally confusing until it was explained to me that this was their last chance for overtime for the year, so whether the snow deserved it or not, it was going to get cleared....

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

For Drivers that is... personally I'm loving it. Toronto is experiencing the heaviest snowfall in years. The streets have about 4 feet of snow in huge piles between the sidewalk and streets. The temperatures are sitting around - 5 to - 12 so it's not going anywhere. And tonight there is another huge dump of snow promised with up to 20 centimeters coming down.





Now I'm sure Jane Jacobs is smiling from on high somewhere. I live in a neighbourhood where everything is within walking distance. Public transit gets me anywhere that I need to get to outside of the neighbourhood. I don't mean to be smug, but watching the news reports of the chaos every morning and night on the arterial Highway 401 as commuters and snow removal teams fight it out to beat the snow... well, sometimes you wonder what they were thinking as they hopped into the car and decided to drive to work...

Wanderings

Each Sunday we've been taking a day to explore. Odd thing about this city is how some people who live here don't have much excitement about it, and yet its filled with amazing neighbourhoods and history. I only really understand a city if I can walk around it (one of the reasons Tokyo was so hard to understand...) so each Sunday we point ourselves in a new direction... based on architecture, or food, or some literary or musical highpoint... Sunday we wandered over to the Danforth, which seemed like it might be a new and exotic territory, then the plan was to walk down to the Indian neighbourhood and then down through Leslieville to the Distillery District (an old brick distillery that's been preserved and is now home to Soulpepper Theatre Co.)

Well.... the Danforth wasn't quite as exotic neighbourhood as I'd thought... pleasant, lots of shops, Starbucks etc etc etc... and friggin' cold... soooooo friggin' cold... last week we had a foot of snow, then it got warm and it all started to melt, then it got reeeal cold, so it all froze back again.... so now the sidewalks are covered in an inch of ice... So we stumbled away from the dull Danforth a little soon down to Gerrard to search for Hot Curries and Chai, but we'd missed Little India and it was just too cold to search so we slipped our way down to Leslieville. And, happily, when we retreated into an 2nd hand store to escape the cold we found a very cool piece of furniture for our currently extraordinarily empty apartment....




Anyway...buoyed by that discovery we finally gave up on walking over the icefields (we felt morally justified...Lisa will spend the next two weeks in -30 C weather in a pair of snowboots) and sensibly hopped into a taxi and admired Queen St. East from the warm interior of an old cab and sped to the Distillery District, which was all they said... beautiful - reminded me of Scotland - and containing an Oyster bar...which we inhabited and warmed ourselves with BC Wine and East Coast Oysters...

Sensible Footwear

I guess a good choice of footwear is really about the conditions at hand. Thank god for Canadian Tire Hardware Store... $35.00 and I'm outfitted with the right shoes for the slightly new conditions I'm facing - off of the hardwood floor of theatres across Japan and onto the foot of snow that we should be facing in the next few days.... I'm ready!!