The Marriage of Figaro

R. and I went to see The Marriage of Figaro last night, put on by the Toronto Opera Repertoire. R. expected it to be two people appearing in balconies on either side of the stage "and shouting at each other for awhile, then they leave and two new people come out to shout at each other." I've studied Figaro (and some other operas) my core opera class, so I had a slightly more accurate expectation.

Still, it was not what either of us expected.

Despite their highfalutin' name, the Toronto Opera Repertoire is a sort-of-amateur production company. Several of the leads were professionals with a singing and performance background. They were fantastic. Other performers were doing opera for the fun, and to "bring affordable opera to the masses" (to paraphrase the Toronto Opera Repertoire mission statement). These singers tapped their feet and bobbed their heads to keep the beat, and grew increasingly tired throughout the performance. I can't blame them. I certainly couldn't sing Mozart arias for three hours.

All considered, I really enjoyed the opera, part-sincerely and part-ironically (enhanced by my choice of companion). I would probably go see a Toronto Opera Repertoire opera again.


This post's theme word: termagant, "a quarrelsome or overbearing woman."

Snowman scrum

It snowed mightily last night, and when I walked to campus this morning, this was the view on the rugby pitch:Yes, indeed. A scrum of snowmen in the center of the field. The scrum machine is off to the sidelines.

I am amused to think that, for rugby players training during winter, it might be possible to scrum against these snowmen -- as long as they don't flake apart (!), and can take the heat (!) and pressure of a scrum. Wheeee!


This post's theme word: palinode, "apology." Like my response to puns.

Stacked penguins

If you shake them long enough, this will eventually happen once.
This post's theme word: oleophobic, "lacking affinity for oils."

Lettuce!

Oh, the lovely colors!

This post's featured word: acarpous, "not producing fruit; sterile."

Flowering tea

I had this very neat tea at Moonbeam in Kensington market. The dry tea was in small, wrinkly, brown balls -- like little dried-leaf turds. But when one was placed in my glass of boiling water, it flowered quite beautifully:I wasn't expecting the bright flower in the center of the leaves!

The tea was a light green tea, a little sweet but very mild. It smelled earthy and nice. I liked it.

This post's theme word: stipule, "leaf-like outgrowth."

Valentine's day gingerbread

Happy Valentine's Day.
Octopus! Fish!


This post's theme word: mawkish, "excessively sentimental, especially in a false or childish manner," or "having a nauseating taste or smell." Sorry.

Old dreams

Sorry for the recent blog silence. I've been sick and busy, and planning a move at the end of the month. There are lots of draft posts just festering around here. Yuck.

In cleaning up, I recently found the following note, scribbled quickly upon waking, which pretty clearly is a record of a dream. But I no longer remember the dream, or even writing this note:

Dream 1.
Going to play. Everyone in car. I [illegible] a lot; too slow; do for A. instead.

Alarm. Dream 2.
I have dysintery (though no symptoms). Everyone knows. We go hiking. Find a pile of loose, unattended ground hamburger. Watch safety video lying on ground. Play on playground.

Alarm. D3.
Ski resort. C. & J. wedding. E. hat. S. in tux, tophat. Aunt D. -- full back tattoo of periodic table, blanking out letters but 'thank you.' I forgot dress!

And that's a quick trip into my subconscious.


This post's theme word: quaalude, "methaqualone," or "a sedative and sleep-inducing drug."