Boston

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For fuck’s sake.

Boston.

Source: AP Photo/The Boston Globe, John Tlumacki
Source: AP Photo/The Boston Globe, John Tlumacki

We just visited for the first time, not two months ago. It felt like Halifax, like home.

I was back two weeks after that for a conference, just a couple of blocks away from the explosion sites.

I’m scheduled to go again, a week from tomorrow.

I suspect we won’t know much about the “why?” until tomorrow. As for the “what now?” I’ll leave that to Patton Oswalt:

Boston. Fucking horrible.

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, “Well, I’ve had it with humanity.”

But I was wrong. I don’t know what’s going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here’s what I DO know. If it’s one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we’re lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We’d have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, “The good outnumber you, and we always will.”

.:.

Photo by hahatango, used under Creative Commons license

No, not Bellie…Nellie

Dan Dickinson2 Comments

Since our wine rack was looking a little sparse, we tootled down to Niagara to pick some up. We hit Kacaba (warning: maybe the ugliest website I’ve seen in a decade) and Vineland and Tawse, where they were pouring samples of their 2011 Pinots alongside the 2010 vintages from the same vineyards. We stopped at Southbrook and had lunch at The Garrison House (warning: that site autoplays Gordon Lightfoot). We picked up bottles by Le Clos Jordanne, Stratus, Lailey, Ravine, and Five Rows.

We weren’t just picking up for ourselves either. We gathered a case along the way for friends who’ve recently bought a beautiful home in Niagara-On-The-Lake, and who graciously hosted us for a dinner of soup and short ribs and copious amounts of wine. Then there was some throwback Wii Sports, and then some sleep — and thank god, because I’d been sipping wine since 10:30am. By around the same time the next morning we were on our way back to Toronto, fighting the wind on the Skyway and some Jays fan traffic on the Gardiner, but nothing too serious.

It was a quick there-and-back, but we came back with a fine haul:

  • Five Rows 2012 Sauvignon Blanc
  • Five Rows 2012 Pinot Gris
  • FiveRows 2012 Pinot Gris
  • Kacaba 2011 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay
  • Kacaba 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Lailey 2010 Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Le Clos Jordanne 2010 Village Reserve Chardonnay
  • Le Clos Jordanne 2010 Claystone Terrace Chardonnay (x2)
  • Southbrook 2010 Whimsy Lot “I” Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Southbrook 2011 Winemaker’s White
  • Stratus 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Stratus 2009 Chardonnay
  • Vineland Estates 2011 Elevation Bo-Teek Vineyard Chardonnay
  • Vineland Estates 2009 Sauvignon Blanc
  • Vineland Estates 2007 Reserve Fumé Blanc

Photo by erjkprunczýk, used under Creative Commons license

“Is he a very great wizard, or is he more like you?”

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J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Hobbit is almost a part of my family. I’d had it read to me, in parts, multiple times when I was very little and would get sick. I don’t remember, but suspect I was whining that I wanted someone to read to me, and my dad decided that if he was going to read something it’d be something good. I read it myself later, but forgot most of it. I read it again shortly after I moved to Toronto, not long before Peter Jackson began making his Lord Of The Rings trilogy. I rediscovered those books as well, and fell in love with Jackson’s films. So I was more than a little excited when he announced he’d be making a film version of The Hobbit (imdb | rotten tomatoes) as well.

I’ll admit, though, that a crazy schedule kept me from going the first few weekends after its release, after which middling reviews (of the film, and of the 3Dish technology in which it was displayed) discouraged me further. But once again, family intervened: my brother told me the middling reviews centered mainly around the difference in tone of the film vs. the LOTR trilogy…which shouldn’t have surprised anyone, given the difference in tone between the books. So, armed with that knowledge, the convenience of on-demand TV, and a long weekend we settled in to watch it.

And it was pretty good. Not amazing, mind you…just pretty good. It’s suffering a bit from Jackson’s (or the studio’s?) desire to stretch a small book over three long films, but Tolkien packed a lot in those pages. And while I knew Dwarf songs were coming, that doesn’t mean I liked it. It also felt a little like they’ve fallen a bit too in love with the CGI, but not disastrously so.

I’m quite looking forward to the next adventure now though, so…mission accomplished.

.:.

Photo by erjkprunczýk, used under Creative Commons license

Photo by Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, used under Creative Commons license

Two worlds

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Cross another Toronto beer hot spot off the list: last night we tried Stout Irish Pub on Carlton. It was a busy place, being open on (Good) Friday night, so we took the last two spots at the bar, ate dinner (meh; my spicy chicken sandwich was just okay, while they actually brought Nellie the completely wrong soup), and tried some new beers. I had a Wellington Terrestrial Brown Ale, a Sawdust City Skinny Dipping With Friends Stout, and a Dieu du Ciel Grande Noirceur before we shared a large bottle of Church Key Zwei Welten Dunkelweizen Bock. So, to sum up: good beer and friendly bartenders, but not in the real top tier of beer places in the city. Still, a solid choice in a part of town without much to offer, beer-wise.

Speaking of pubs: earlier that day, while out for some lunch at the Jason George, a little girl — maybe 8 or 9 years old — walked up to our table and just took fries off my plate. So that happened.

.:.

Photo by Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, used under Creative Commons license

Photo by Thomas Hawk, used under Creative Commons license

The kid

Dan Dickinson1 Comment

I watch lots of hockey. Lots and lots and lots. In fact I’m watching a Montreal Canadiens game, en Français, as I write this. I’ve also been to a fair number of games now, mostly at the ACC, as my work sometimes affords me a chance to go. I feel bad about that — I despise the Leafs, and feel bad taking a seat from someone who would dearly love to see a game, but don’t want to be rude to those who invite me, and anyway still enjoy seeing the game played live. You just don’t get a sense, watching it on TV, how fast and fluid the game is.

Last Thursday I was lucky enough to see the Leafs play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’d actually seen that match-up live once before, but with a key difference: Sidney Crosby didn’t play the first time. Last week I got to see the best player in the world live.

To be honest, it freaked me out a little. Like I said, I watch a lot of hockey, and I’ve gotten pretty good at reading the play, spotting the open man, guessing where the next pass will go, identifying openings and seams which — if exploited — could lead to a goal. So, normally when I watch a game I feel like I’m about half a second ahead of the play. But not with Crosby. With Crosby, I was behind. Actually, I was completely out of the play. Two or three times he passed the puck somewhere I hadn’t been expecting, to a space I didn’t know was occupied until his teammate had the puck on his stick. Like the one at the 2:38 mark in this video, behind his back to Pascal Dupuis who was so open Crosby was likely the only player on either team who knew he was there.

The Pens came from behind to beat the Leafs 3-1, and I got to see Sidney Crosby play, so I was a happy guy.

Oh, and we had dinner at Aria before the game, my first time there. It was…just okay. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back, but it’s certainly better than most other options that close to the ACC.

.:.

Photo by Thomas Hawk, used under Creative Commons license

Image by GOTSfile, used under creative commons license

“You think I’m not serious just because I carry a rabbit?”

Dan Dickinson1 Comment

Here’s how we’ve spent our last 72 hours (work notwithstanding):

  • Yummy beers at Bar Hop
  • The Game of Thrones exhibit at the Design Exchange, which was small, but free, and not at all bad. Just got me even more excited for March 31st.
  • Meat at Triple A
  • Dinner at Richmond Station, our first time back since Nellie’s birthday. We didn’t have a reservation, but they managed to find us a table upstairs…a cool space, since you can see the kitchen preparing the dishes. Just like the first time the food was good, and the service/servers were excellent. It’s quickly becoming one of my very favourite places in the neighbourhood.
  • Watched Seven Psychopaths (imdb | rotten tomatoes), made by the director of In Bruges. Very entertaining. Christopher Walken, man. Just…yeah.
  • Safe House (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was pretty meh, but at least it gave us an early preview of Cape Town.

.:.

Image by GOTSfile, used under creative commons license

“Who are you killing next? Do you take requests? Because I was thinking maybe some Kardashians.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Two recent movie watches, one drawing some laughs intentionally, the other not so much.

God Bless America (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was Bobcat Goldthwait’s third feature in the last few years. It’s a funny, if clumsy, cri de couer against the vanity and banality of reality TV, radio shock jocks, bloviating political pundits, and other forms of celebrated hatefulness in popular culture. The best part was how following each killing of a mean person by the everyman protagonist, the media’s attempt to blame something simple and headline-y (terrorists! violent movies!) rather than look for a pattern. Anyway, it’s a nice — though extremely violent — anti-stupid fantasy for those of us who hate TMZ and Glenn Beck.

Nellie was determined to watch the remake of Red Dawn (imdb | rotten tomatoes), even though it carries a 12% rating and was rewritten and delayed for ages. I like how Rotten Tomatoes summed it up: “The rebooted Red Dawn lacks the original’s topicality, but at least pays tribute in delivering the same short shrift to character development and general logic.” I mean, they didn’t even leave in the iconic scene — the one good thing about the original — of hundreds of parachutes falling quietly to the ground outside the school’s windows. Instead, we get a cutting-room-floor scene from Friday Night Lights and a Camaro with a minigun mounted on top. Blech.

Photo courtesy of brizzle born and bred, used under Creative Commons license

The fifty best Bob Dylan songs

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Most people who get sick with a cold or the flu just curl up in bed or watch a dumb movie on TV. Not my dad. Here’s the story my brother and I got from my mom a couple weeks ago:

“When Dad was sick with a cold last week I bought the current Rolling Stone Magazine because it had Bob Dylan’s picture on it and flipping through, I saw there was an interview, so thought it might help him pass some time. I did not look at the back, but apparently the Rolling Stone panel had selected the top 100 Dylan songs and because they don’t all match Dad’s choices, he has asked me to share his list and their rankings with you.”

He asked my mom to send it to us because, of course, my dad doesn’t have anything to do with computers. So, my brother and I made lists of our own. Here’s mine:

  1. “Like A Rolling Stone”
  2. “Maggie’s Farm”
  3. “Not Dark Yet”
  4. “Subterranean Homesick Blues”
  5. “House Carpenter”
  6. “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll”
  7. “When The Ship Comes In”
  8. “With God On Our Side”
  9. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
  10. “The Times They Are A-Changin'”
  11. “Masters Of War”
  12. “Highlands”
  13. “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”
  14. “Cold Irons Bound”
  15. “Forever Young”
  16. “When I Paint My Masterpiece”
  17. “Tombstone Blues”
  18. “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”
  19. “Girl from the North Country”
  20. “Seven Curses”
  21. “Desolation Row”
  22. “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”
  23. “High Water (For Charley Patton)”
  24. “Most Of The Time”
  25. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
  26. “Boots Of Spanish Leather”
  27. “Ballad Of A Thin Man”
  28. “I Shall Be Released”
  29. “The Ballad Of Hollis Brown”
  30. “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”
  31. “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”
  32. “Kingsport Town”
  33. “Highway 61 Revisited”
  34. “Dirt Road Blues”
  35. “Drifter’s Escape”
  36. “Outlaw Blues”
  37. “All Along The Watchtower”
  38. “Blowin’ In The Wind”
  39. “Who Killed Davey Moore?”
  40. “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”
  41. “Love Sick”
  42. “Where Teardrops Fall”
  43. “Mama, You Been On My Mind”
  44. “Foot Of Pride”
  45. “Someday Baby”
  46. “Thunder On The Mountain”
  47. “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum”
  48. “Man In The Long Black Coat”
  49. “Everything Is Broken”
  50. “The Levee’s Gonna Break”

I looked at neither my dad’s list nor my brother’s before making my own, but not surprisingly there was some crossover:

  • Three songs were in both my top ten list and my dad’s: “Like A Rolling Stone”, “The Times They Are A-Changin'”, and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
  • Four songs were in both my top ten list and brother’s: “Like A Rolling Stone”, “The Times They Are A-Changin'”, “The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll”, and “Maggie’s Farm”
  • My dad and brother crossed over on only two: “Like A Rolling Stone” and “Desolation Row”.
  • Obviously “Like A Rolling Stone” was the only song to make all of our top ten lists. My brother and I both independently ranked it #1. So, in what seemed a rather obvious move, did Rolling Stone. My dad claims his top ten was “not in order”, but “Like A Rolling Stone” was listed first, so I’m holding him to that and saying that we all picked it.

My dad’s top ten, by the way:

  • “Like a Rolling Stone”
  • “Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
  • “Desolation Row”
  • “Blowin’ In The Wind”
  • “Forever Young”
  • “Girl From the North Country”
  • “Highlands”
  • “Farewell Angelina”
  • “She Belongs To Me”
  • “High Water”

And my brother’s:

  1. “Like a Rolling Stone”
  2. “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”
  3. “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”
  4. “Desolation Row”
  5. “Blind Willie McTell”
  6. “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”
  7. “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”
  8. “Masters of War”
  9. “The Times They Are a-Changin'”
  10. “Maggie’s Farm”

.:.

Photo courtesy of brizzle born and bred, used under Creative Commons license

Photo by boyce duprey, used under creative commons license

“It’s all a deep end.”

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Like me, many of you probably remember an awful movie coming out in the mid-90s called Judge Dredd (imdb | rotten tomatoes), in which Sylvester Stallone droned “I AM THE LAW” and all but ruined the character for anyone who’d read the comic book. I wasn’t even aware it had been a comic book — it was bigger in the UK than here — until Dredd (imdb | rotten tomatoes) showed up in last year’s TIFF lineup…Midnight Madness, specifically, which made sense given the violence on offer.

I hesitate to call it a remake — what I remember of that awful Stallone movie bears little resemblance to Dredd, by all accounts a much more faithful depiction of the original character. It was far from a great movie, and will be far too gory for some people’s tastes, but was a solid little Saturday afternoon good(ish)-guy-vs-very-bad-guy flick.

.:.

Photo by boyce duprey, used under creative commons license