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jaalaWell, well, well. Several events have occurred since I last updated.
Friday, December 12:
I handed in two concert reports properly and stuck the remaining two to the bulletin board outside the professor's office just before the building closed. I showed up for my flute lesson earlier that day, but I was late and I missed her by about ten seconds. So I have that hanging over my head for the holiday... ah, well. I should be practicing.
Picked up my Canadian Music essay and was pleased to discover "Louis Riel" CD-Rs included. If it hadn't been late, I would have gotten an A- on the essay. Watched all three acts that very evening, of course, because I'm a dork.
Saturday, December 13:
Somehow managed to catch the 8:54 train to Toronto.
That evening, Mum and I went to a fundraising concert for a local theatre company that is in danger of going under due to a poor turnout last summer. We had fantastic seats, fourth row centre in a very small theatre. There were some very fine performances (mostly pop or jazz Christmas songs, performed by various actor friends of the company) but the highlight was, without a doubt, getting to see the genius of Brent Carver in action again. His rendition of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" was... well, suffice it to repeat Mum's comment: "It sent chills down my back." He later led the audience in singing "Jingle Bells" and I have to say it was the most adorable version of that song I've ever heard. *sigh*
Wednesday, December 17:
Mum and I headed to Toronto with the intent of (as she puts it) "swearing at the Americans", i.e. handing in paperwork at the U.S. Consulate in order to verify my American citizenship and obtain a passport and Social Security Number. You didn't know I was American as well as Canadian, did you? We arrived at 1:10, ten minutes too late.
After lunch, we whiled away the remainder of the afternoon by going to a cinema to see Elephant. A chilling movie. I'm still not really sure what I thought of it.
*
And that evening, we witnessed our first evening-length concert by Betty & the Bobs... and it was good. Nearly fell out of my seat laughing several times, and there was a lot of (encouraged!) singing along. Trevor Strong and Chris Patterson each performed a guest solo turn ("Christmas Blues" and some Elvis song) backed by the band, which of course was cool beyond description.
Prizes were given out with plenty of fanfare to audience members who could answer trivia questions. I received a spiffy Santa hat with sparkly stars on it because I answered Chris's question, "Who sang a duet with David Bowie on a Christmas special in [whatever year]?" (Of course, I declined to mention that I knew it was Bing Crosby because of Dave Foley's Christmas special in which he and Joe Flaherty did impressions of the abovementioned celebrities!) "Wow... evening wear!" declared Chris.
Speaking of Dave: he was the biggest sweetheart, as usual. After grinning at me several times from the stage, he stopped to talk as the band was coming off the stage. He recognized me! Even though I was never that huge a Fruhead and I've seen him with B&TB at only two other events. About the hat, by far the classiest prize of the evening: "I picked it out myself!" (Suzie and Katherine also stopped by to talk. Mum and I felt so special! *g*)
December 20:
Saw a figure skating show with Deirdre and Mum. It featured Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler (my heroes when I was younger), Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kratz (f---ing brilliant as always, deserved an Olympic medal), Brian Orser (awww), Kurt Browning (always fun, and still quite good technically), and Donald Jackson (very impressive considering his big win was in 1962). These people are treated like rock stars in Canada.
December 21:
The annual family expedition to a Christmas tree farm. It was dragged into the house only today; we'll have to decorate it tomorrow once the rain dries off.
December 22:
Another trip to the Consulate, this time successful. With the higher security alert in place, I thought it was best to suppress my natural tendency to make fun of Bush et al and say things like, "and is Saddam connected to al-Qaeda? No-oo!" To my surprise (and, admittedly, my relief), I didn't have to swear any oath of allegiance. A notice on the wall told us what to do in the case of a bomb threat (frightened me just a tad).
(The background: My mother is American by birth although she prefers Canada, has lived here most of her life, and has obtained dual Canadian citizenship. My sister's intended career as a professional ballet dancer is more likely to succeed if she has easy access to work in the States and she and I are both American citizens through Mum, so she got verified and obtained a passport. With all the paperwork, trouble and cost, Mum figured I might as well hitch a ride too.)
Met up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
michaelsjournal (a friend from Mt A), walked around Toronto a bit, ate some "Japanese" fast food, and saw (appropriately enough for the day) In America. A good movie. Not perfect, but good. (I was never really sure why a girl in 1982 has a camcorder with a pop-out screen.)
At some point in the past week, Mum and I went for a walk in the snow at the conservation area. Too bad it's now completely gone.
Friday, December 12:
I handed in two concert reports properly and stuck the remaining two to the bulletin board outside the professor's office just before the building closed. I showed up for my flute lesson earlier that day, but I was late and I missed her by about ten seconds. So I have that hanging over my head for the holiday... ah, well. I should be practicing.
Picked up my Canadian Music essay and was pleased to discover "Louis Riel" CD-Rs included. If it hadn't been late, I would have gotten an A- on the essay. Watched all three acts that very evening, of course, because I'm a dork.
Saturday, December 13:
Somehow managed to catch the 8:54 train to Toronto.
That evening, Mum and I went to a fundraising concert for a local theatre company that is in danger of going under due to a poor turnout last summer. We had fantastic seats, fourth row centre in a very small theatre. There were some very fine performances (mostly pop or jazz Christmas songs, performed by various actor friends of the company) but the highlight was, without a doubt, getting to see the genius of Brent Carver in action again. His rendition of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" was... well, suffice it to repeat Mum's comment: "It sent chills down my back." He later led the audience in singing "Jingle Bells" and I have to say it was the most adorable version of that song I've ever heard. *sigh*
Wednesday, December 17:
Mum and I headed to Toronto with the intent of (as she puts it) "swearing at the Americans", i.e. handing in paperwork at the U.S. Consulate in order to verify my American citizenship and obtain a passport and Social Security Number. You didn't know I was American as well as Canadian, did you? We arrived at 1:10, ten minutes too late.
After lunch, we whiled away the remainder of the afternoon by going to a cinema to see Elephant. A chilling movie. I'm still not really sure what I thought of it.
*
And that evening, we witnessed our first evening-length concert by Betty & the Bobs... and it was good. Nearly fell out of my seat laughing several times, and there was a lot of (encouraged!) singing along. Trevor Strong and Chris Patterson each performed a guest solo turn ("Christmas Blues" and some Elvis song) backed by the band, which of course was cool beyond description.
Prizes were given out with plenty of fanfare to audience members who could answer trivia questions. I received a spiffy Santa hat with sparkly stars on it because I answered Chris's question, "Who sang a duet with David Bowie on a Christmas special in [whatever year]?" (Of course, I declined to mention that I knew it was Bing Crosby because of Dave Foley's Christmas special in which he and Joe Flaherty did impressions of the abovementioned celebrities!) "Wow... evening wear!" declared Chris.
Speaking of Dave: he was the biggest sweetheart, as usual. After grinning at me several times from the stage, he stopped to talk as the band was coming off the stage. He recognized me! Even though I was never that huge a Fruhead and I've seen him with B&TB at only two other events. About the hat, by far the classiest prize of the evening: "I picked it out myself!" (Suzie and Katherine also stopped by to talk. Mum and I felt so special! *g*)
December 20:
Saw a figure skating show with Deirdre and Mum. It featured Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler (my heroes when I was younger), Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kratz (f---ing brilliant as always, deserved an Olympic medal), Brian Orser (awww), Kurt Browning (always fun, and still quite good technically), and Donald Jackson (very impressive considering his big win was in 1962). These people are treated like rock stars in Canada.
December 21:
The annual family expedition to a Christmas tree farm. It was dragged into the house only today; we'll have to decorate it tomorrow once the rain dries off.
December 22:
Another trip to the Consulate, this time successful. With the higher security alert in place, I thought it was best to suppress my natural tendency to make fun of Bush et al and say things like, "and is Saddam connected to al-Qaeda? No-oo!" To my surprise (and, admittedly, my relief), I didn't have to swear any oath of allegiance. A notice on the wall told us what to do in the case of a bomb threat (frightened me just a tad).
(The background: My mother is American by birth although she prefers Canada, has lived here most of her life, and has obtained dual Canadian citizenship. My sister's intended career as a professional ballet dancer is more likely to succeed if she has easy access to work in the States and she and I are both American citizens through Mum, so she got verified and obtained a passport. With all the paperwork, trouble and cost, Mum figured I might as well hitch a ride too.)
Met up with
michaelsjournal (a friend from Mt A), walked around Toronto a bit, ate some "Japanese" fast food, and saw (appropriately enough for the day) In America. A good movie. Not perfect, but good. (I was never really sure why a girl in 1982 has a camcorder with a pop-out screen.)At some point in the past week, Mum and I went for a walk in the snow at the conservation area. Too bad it's now completely gone.
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no subject
Date: 2003-12-24 08:45 pm (UTC)Of course you know I want to cross the border the other way... I was so thrilled last year when I got to take the oath of citizenship from "Adrienne Clarkson". Never mind that it was at The Second City.
Now all I need is to meet a nice single Canadian girl.
Merry Christmas! I would have sent you a card but have no address, though I could probably eke my way back to your neighbourhood.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-01 11:54 pm (UTC)