I'll see you at the show

When a two year old tells you he loves you, your heart melts. When he sings you the first two lines from "Bird on a Wire," your heart breaks. I guess when your dad plays in a band, you learn Leonard Cohen tunes instead of Raffi...

A couple nights ago Andy Creeggan and Mike Evan played a show here. I've tried writing this paragraph a few times. Let's just say it was a great show, and it was fun to see Andy again. He's a great musician & performer (listen to one of Jim and Andy's songs). Jim got up and played about half the show with them. Much fun.

I've had two great lessons with my new teacher at the Con, Steve Dann. He's got an amazing sound, and great ideas about how to play music, and how to play the viola. Also, his name sounds like a superhero, or a PI. I feel like his philosphy is a good complement to the tools I already have.

Again, tried writing that paragraph a few times, but it's really hard not to be boring with details that aren't important. You can just be happy knowing that I'm happy and learning a lot and growing.

Capella and I went to the Red Sox/Blue Jays game on Saturday. The Sox lost, but it was a close game until the end. We had good seats by the left field pole that would've been twice as expensive at Fenway. Also, they still sell beer in the stands and don't shut down after the seventh inning stretch. Our section was about two thirds Sox fans- some Dominicans from Fall River brought signs with messages for Jerry Remy, hoping to get on NESN. A guy a few rows behind us yelled "Hey Fall Rivah" a few times but couldn't get their attention.

We walked home and passed an adult clothing & book store (if you know what I mean) that had two women dancing in the windows. It was especially shocking because they normally have maniquins. A bit like an episode of Doctor Who.

We're moving into our new apartment on Tuesday. I'm so excited to finally live in my own home again. We've been living out of boxes for two and a half months, and it feels like it. At the same time I've gotten used to living with Finn and Jim and Anna. They're such positive people, and have become good friends. Jim just left today to start a tour, so I think we'll be seeing Anna and Finn as much as we can.

I think now that I'm actually busy doing stuff I won't be writing as often as before. Less time for writing & less time for exploring. Time to be a grown-up (sort of).

A long overdue installment arrives! Apologies to anyone waiting on pins and needles for this- it must have been painful, I'm sure.

And now the first in a short series of homemaking and cooking tips, courtesy of Julia Child. I give you: the perfect hard boiled egg. Put your eggs in a pot so that they are all touching the bottom (so none are crowded up) and cover with an inch of cold water. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and cover. Let sit for seventeen minutes. Go read a magazine. Transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water, and let them cool. Bring the hot water back up to a boil and put the eggs in for about ten seconds, and then back into the ice water. Seems fussy, but the last step seperates the egg from the shell and makes it easy to peel. I made these for Capella last week, and the whole bass section of the opera was jealous.

My other tidbit for the week is the proper use of the phrase "give 'er." I'll start with an example. It's a little lengthy, but worth it.

A few weeks ago in the late afternoon Capella, Jim, Anna, Finn, and I were all in the kitchen puttering around. It was warm out and the windows were open. The neighbor's mother was at her (the neighbor's) house, taking care of her (the neighbor's) kids. (Interesting sidenote for the Canadians reading this: the neighbor used to be on Degrassi. I'm not sure which series. I'll ask Capella when she gets home.) The grandmother was playing guitar and singing to the kids, which was sweet and nice to listen to. She started playing "Free Fallin'," by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. When she got to the chorus we all got ready for it to kick in, but she kept singing along like before. We were feeling somewhat frustrated, and Jim said, "When you get there, you just gotta give 'er."

Perfect.

For those still a little unsure of using give 'er themselves, I suggest renting the movie FUBAR, available at finer video stores near you. The people behind have also written a book.

And a quick summary of what I've actually been up to in the last two weeks or so. Started school at the Con (OK, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music. You see why people call it the Con.) Went to the dress rehearsal for the first part of the Ring cycle. Fabulous. The opera house is brand spankin' new & sounds amazing. Capella got me a free ticket so I was in the fifth balcony (the very top) and I managed not to fall asleep! Just kidding, it was very exciting. I also went to Vancouver for a weekend for our friends Nathan and Naila's wedding. It was beautiful. I was honored they asked me to play at the ceremony as my present to them, and got more nervous than for any concert in the last few years. I stayed at Nathan's parents' house in an older suburb of Vancouver. Their house overlooks an inlet of the Pacific, and I woke up every morning and had a coffee and watched the mists travel down the valley. Didn't get to see Vancouver but I don't feel like I missed much.

Song of the week: Stripper in my Car, by Mike Evan. One of the rare songs that I can't possibley imagine the composition process. Buy this man's record. While you're at it, the Barenaked Ladies have a new album, and Capella plays on one of the tracks. If you buy it, she might get residuals. Not sure.

Time for bed. Tomorrow's a school day.

*Update* the neighbor was on Degrassi Street, Jr. High, High, & a couple more specials. I'm told she played Lucy Fernandez... Also, I saw Mary Walsh of 22 Minutes on Bloor by Yonge last week.

A modest proposal

This week we went to the fair. The Canadian National Exhibition has been going on at the fairgrounds down by the lake, not too far from where our new apartment will be. It's like I always imagined a state fair is like, but bigger. (On a side note, does anyone have any idea why Massachusetts doesn't have state fairs? Or does it, but out in Worcester, so we never notice?) In the agriculture building we saw cows, pigs, sheep, turkeys, and horses of various breeds and ages, and one ostrich. The pigs had a big sign above them that said, "From Farm to Fork." If you can eat bacon after watching 6 piglets suckling, well, hats off to you. We also saw butter sculptures. They were in a refrigerated trailer in the middle of the hall with Plexiglas windows. There was a young woman inside, wearing a parka and sipping a coffee, working on her butter sculpture. Farmers.

We wandered down the fairway past all the games for suckers- the strongman thing where you try to ding the bell, the various throwing games that are way harder than they look, the different "racing" games, a few gambling places, and a million junk food stands. We doubled back to catch a human cannonball show. David "the Bullet" Smith, Jr. is a second-generation human cannonball, and several of his siblings are apparently also human cannonballs. If you've never seen a human cannonball shooting in person, I highly recommend it. Dude shoots out of a canon and flies through the air.

We tried to hoof it to the opposite end of the fairgrounds to see a circus from Quebec City that wasn't Cirque du Soleil. I don't know what they were actually called, but the promos looked pretty similar. We didn't get in, so I'll assume it wasn't that awesome, anyway. I don't recommend them.

So we walked back to the rides. Your usual collection of spinning things, flying things, cars of various types, slides, and funny mirrors. We decided to give the bumper cars a whirl, and ended up getting a free ride because the gateman's scanner wasn't working properly. Instead of buying tokens to give to your kids to spend on rides, they sold debit card-type things, but with a supermarket-style scanner. Anyway, we had fun, but Capella backed herself into a corner and couldn't get out for most of it, so I went around in circles and bashed into her every lap. Soon after we decided it was time to go, and walked home.

On Thursday and Friday the Snowbirds, the aerial team of the Canadian Forces, were practising for an air show at the Exposition. The show was all weekend and today, making five days that the skies of Toronto have been filled with jets doing loop-de-loops. Over the weekend there have also been various propeller planes and older bombers. Having now experienced five days of jet fighters constantly overhead, I propose that all major cities of countries about to wage war experience the same thing before the decision to go to war is made. Of course, Isreal and Lebanon experience that already, but I'm thinking of, say, the U.S. and U.K. It's one thing to read about war, but when the fighter jets shake the ground you're standing on you begin to have some empathy for anyone caught up in it.

Just a thought. Comments?