Choices

Oh, to post or to go to sleep. I will take the wiser choice, since I should be rested before getting on the road tomorrow. My plans: leaving around 9:30, stopping for lunch in Kingston, and getting to my parents' place before 3.

But on the other hand: I seem to have a backlog of 9 things I've meant to review from the last few weeks.

Guess you'll have to wait!

Thanks for all the well-wishes for smooth driving. It will go fine, I'm sure; just a bit long.

On that note, G'night. :)

[ps- bike odometer rolled over this evening, 200km.]

Restaurant Review: Simple Bistro, Toronto

We drove to Toronto last Sunday to see a friend who was visiting town. Seeing Wendy was delightful; it had been over a year and we had some catching up to do.

We found Simple Bistro when we were walking along Mount Pleasant Rd. from where we parked to where Wendy was staying, and it looked from outside like Our Kind of Place.  And Wendy was game, so we walked back to scope it out again. There happened to be a table (it was otherwise full- very noisy at the start) and they fed us terrific food.  I think it's the best restaurant dinner I've had in quite a while. I had an asparagus / heirloom tomato salad, Wendy had a wonderful fresh pea soup, and d. had sardines, which were so good he didn't share.  For the main courses, I had muscovoy duck with a cheesy dumpling concoction on the side that was really complex in flavour; d. had red snapper in a lobster sauce; and W. had char. We had many moments of silence, just being happy with our lots in life. 

The waiter, who was quite cute, was also quite attentive. I wish I had been able to take a photo, but at one point, he and a cook were each sharing a moment with a cocktail, both of them framed in the bar/kitchen doorway...

Desert for me was chocolate mousse, and for both d. and W., a rhubarb strawberry shortbread.

Highly recommended if you can get to that part of town... We had never been in the Mt. Pleasant area before- but if someone else were wanted to meet us there for dinner, we might be convinced! :)

Theatre Review: Sunday in the Park with George at the Shaw Festiv

Precis summary: Go. See. Sunday in the Park with George at the Shaw Festival, playing through November 1.

d. said in his review that if you go on Sunday, it's $40 a ticket. Very worth it and the drive to get there, from here at least. (If you're in Colorado, possibly not...) d's seen it a bunch of times, sometimes well-done, sometimes not so well. But the Shaw did it justice. 

I had never seen this show; I've listened to d. singing from it, and playing the album from it, for as long as we've been together. 

The story is of George Saurat, whose most famous painting is hanging in Chicago's art gallery. I saw it in '06, and ya know what? I liked it.  A good portion of the first act takes place among the 'real people'  who Saurat is painting; and eventually we see them collected as characters within the painting.  The story of Saurat is somewhat fictionalized, as he was fairly unnoticed during his lifetime.  In this story he's got a girlfriend who leaves him for a baker, who comes to America, then in act two, her daughter is the grandmother of an artist working with video and light.

The songs, which I've heard many times over the years, become a lot less disconnected with the show to tie it together.  The pieces at the end of Act One, where things come together- are really worth seeing on stage.

The overall themes that spoke to me: from chaos, order; the march of time; the challenges of being an artist and living with an artist. But mostly: the joy and wonder of creation. 

The production was well done. The costuming was wonderful: mostly the florid 19th century France in act one. 

The set was properly realistic and also "cardboard cutout" where appropriate. (In act one, there were a pair of soldiers; one was an actor, and the other was an identical painted cutout. Which got played for laughs when they went on double-dates). The sound was fine: as d. mentioned, the players were un-miked, which was a joy.

Mostly I want to say, yeah, good show. And have those of you who haven't seen it, to be on the lookout for good productions of it where ever you are!