Andromache

06:29 pm: Why does technology hate me?
So, my 2.5 year old laptop recently went on its zillionth trip to Best Buy where they decided it had been in residence too many times and bought out my warranty. That money plus $300-odd of my own (which I could barely afford) and some fiddling by the nice boy there, managed to produce a new Sony Vaio laptop and a new 3 year warranty. Which I had approximately 10 days before it ate it's DVD drive. Back to Best Buy, where the guy found a DVD drivel, except when I got home I found it was reading as a DVD-ROM rather than a DVD-RW. Back to Best Buy, for the now 11 day old computer, where we rediscovered a DVD-RW. Came home and discovered the scroll bar on the touchpad had stopped working. I am not taking it back for something this minor, I'll just wait till something else goes wrong (as I have 0 doubt it will relatively shortly) and will get it fixed then.

My DVD player has been cranky and will no longer read burned DVD disks, though it seems ok with avi disks. Weird. But I haven't had the money to replace with a new hackable, avi-readable DVD player, so I'm dealing. I have a second DVD player that plays region 1 disks occasionally, when it feels like it, and only certain ones. It seems to like Ginger Rogers but not many other people.

Except today I went to turn my TV on to watch one of said avi disks, and the tv goes click-click-click ed infinitum but no picture.
Now, this is a 32" television that someone gave me when I mentioned I could no longer see my 20" well enough to bother. And it is quite old. And I really don't watch *that* much tv. And I definitely don't have $500 odd dollars to replace it with a new 32" television. Because all my money just went on a computer. So my best option is to find someone strong to come over, remove the large tv, replace the 20" which I had moved to my bedroom, and encourage my brother strongly to look into the boxing day sales because he was debating buying a new tv, in which case I can probably beg/shame/guilt him into bringing me his old one, which is also, I believe, a 32".

Alternatively I may decide to move to the Prairie and take up seamstressing by hand, somewhere where there is no electricity.

01:37 pm: Lilith Fair
So, most of you on this list will remember Lilith Fair. Some of you may have heard that they are starting up again. The first list of performers are up, though not which cities they are going to.

http://www.lilithfair.com/artists/sarah-mclachlan
I would please like Sara Bareilles, Indigo Girls and Sheryl Crow to come here. Anyone else is negotiable. Thank you.

jovieve, did we know Jill Hennessey sang? She seems to have an album.

02:47 pm: Nano complete
Just finished my story. 50,000 words is LONG. And yet, nowhere near the length of an actual novel. But still, its by far the longest thing I have written.

I'm planning to ignore it for a while, then go back and see if it's worth editing and cleaning up. I'm uncertain. But I'm glad I did it anyway.

Too bad I can't be this productive about something useful, like finding a career.

09:25 pm: So so full
I just got back from a lovely dinner that included the worst service ever. And it was a buffet! We had 16 people so were at 2 tables, and the waitress miscounted so tried to tell us we had more people than we did. And wouldn't believe us. So she got another waitress, who argued with us. Then said "We'll go check the video cameras." So rude. And they didn't bring some of the drinks that were ordered until we were way done eating, and removed plates rudely and were just inept. This was the Ghengis Khan Mongolian Grill, on Don Mills. The food is good, there's a buffet including crab legs, and a chocolate fountain. We have been there a number of times and never had a problem before. But now several of us don't feel like going back again. And it's hte only Mongolian within the city. Bah! But I'm still really full.

Saturday I went to Silver Snail to see Juliet Landau, or more precisely, go through the line twice while my friends all saw Juliet. I didn't want anything signed so I just chatted with half the queue, who I unsurprisingly knew. Then we went to Tortilla Flats, who managed to seat a party of 13 with no trouble, and managed all our orders beautifully. Contrasting this to tonight's restaurant I'm very impressed. Unfortunatly, the food wasn't nearly as good.

12:17 pm: LIfe and all that
I seem to be posting twice a month. That's like keeping up, right?

This week I went to see Toxic Avenger with  several friends. They enjoyed it more than I did. I have put a moratorium on musicals with flying body parts. They are not for me. The songs were also not good. Louise Pitre was.  Ah well, free theatre is good. And there was also all-you-can-eat sushi for Aprilsnark's birthday, though she, intelligently, didn't come to the show. and little brownies with frosting cuz she's doubly clever.

Tonight I'm going to Mandarin to stuff myself with an unlikely combination of things, probably involving crab, yorkshire pudding, sushi and chocolate dipped strawberries. It's good that they have sorbet for between courses.

Next weekend I'm going to NYC for my birthday. Who's shocked? I have a lovely ticket to Ragtime, purchased this morning, in row C on my actual birthday and also a ticket to something I forget the name of but starring Hunter Foster and Lisa Brescia for Halloween matinee. Reservations for Julia Murney's concert in a castle in Tarrytown, and plans to see Finian's Rainbow and 2 as-yet-undecided things. I'll be there Friday-Tuesday, so no one come looking for me.
Must remember to pull out a costume to take.

03:07 pm: Marriage Equality rally
This coming Sunday (Oct 11) there is going to be a huge Marriage Equality rally in Washington, DC. There are expected to be hundreds of thousands of people there, possibly as many as 2 million.  Some people here feel it is important to support the cause, even though we already have gay marriage. So there's going to be a small rally in Toronto to show our support for American Civil Rights.
If anyone is around Toronto on Sunday evening, the rally will take place outside the US Consulate, at 360 Univesity Avenue, just south of St. Patrick subway station, between 5:30 and 7:30. If you know anyone who might support this cause, please pass the information along, as there has been very little advertising for this event and most people do not know it is happening.
If anyone is interested in getting dinner after, I know quite a good Chinese place just down the block. Let me know.

08:21 am: Welcome to the month of Cocktobeer
And can someone tell me why it feels like December outside?
Anyone?
Better yet, don't tell me, just make it stop!

12:22 pm: NY things
Well, NY was fun. NY is always fun.
I saw a drawing room melodrama written in the 20s called The Royal Family, which was fairly amusing.
I saw Carrie Fisher's one-woman show, which was funny enough that I was almost crying. Went to stage door, instead of the throngs of scary Star Wars fans I expected, there were about 15 people. She came out, signed playbills, went away. Easy.

Sunday was the BC/EFA flea market. Oh, did I ever want to buy everything!  I restrained myself admirably. Did pick up a couple of theatre windowcard-size frames, which are impossible to find in this country. Also tshirt, hat, magnets, a tote bag, mug and a few other bits and pieces. Whole rooms full of Broadway fans/actors. It was moved indoors because of the rain, but there wasn't a lot of prep time so it was somewhat disorganized and very crowded but a lot of fun. People were a lot more polite than in the dealer's room at SFX. Next year I will probably go back, but schedule myself away for the middle of hte day. I didn't need to spend the entire day there. But the end had good deals and the beginning has things that go quickly. Didn't see much of the auction because I had dinner plans, but the few minutes I caught were amusing. Lots of people have lots more money than me.

Bus ride home was hell. Arrived late due to sudden but intense rainshower keeping us in restaurant longer than planned, then 3 banks wouldn't let me in to their ATMs so I couldn't get water or snacks for the trip. I needed a double seat because of the frames, and the only ones avalable were the backwards ones at the table, so I rode the whole way facing the back. The lights didn't work for the first few hours, I suspect the driver just forgot to hit the switch, because they did by 9.30. He also wouldn't turn the a/c down even though it was freezing. So I was thirsty and cold the entire trip. Megabus definitely has it's drawbacks.
Got home about 45 min late, because second driver kept taking breaks for no reason, at Buffalo when he started, and at border. I suspect smoking. But I managed to get home and get about an hour of sleep before work. Yesterday at work was not a lot of fun. Am still tired today. But I'll live.
And I go back in 4 weeks and 3 days, not that I'm counting.

12:58 pm: byebye
Popping off to NY again for the weekend. Seeing Carrie Fisher and a flea market. Anyone needs me, I'll be back on Monday. Don't expect me to be awake.

10:39 pm: Me and computers!
So, after my last hardrive crash a few weeks ago, Best Buy installed Norton. Norton was not working well. So I uninstalled Norton and, on the advice of a couple of computer-geeky types, installed Avast antivirus.  This was the biggest mistake ever, as it seems to have eaten something and my computer will now not load.  The only way anyone can suggest I fix this is by reinstalling Windows Vista. No problem. Except my computer did not come with Vista disks. I bought a model that had been returned, and someone had already burned off the one-time-only fixit disks. Best Buy refused to do anything about that. And since it's usually a hardware issue with me, rather than software, I didn't worry too much. Except that now I need to put Vista back on and I can't.

Does anyone around Toronto have a Vista Home disk I could borrow for a couple hours to reinstall an operating system on my stupid computer?

12:18 pm: The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions:
Copy this. Put an 'x' next to those you have read (watching a movie version doesn't count!) Tag other book nerds. - Booknerds, you're tagged ;)

( Book stuffs )

08:50 am: Travelling again
I know it seems like I only post when I'm leaving Toronto.
Actually, that's probably true.

So, next Friday (1 week!) I fly at stupid-am into Vancouver for the day. I have friends who promised to tourist me around the city but I have never been there and have no idea what to see. Any suggestions? Think cheap.

Then, Saturday, one of these nice people is going to get up early and drive me down to Seattle where I leave on this summer's Rosie cruise to Alaska. Yes, I'm going back on the big, gay boat. Totally last minute I managed to convince one of my NY friends to join me, and we know one other person going. It will be fun. I hope it wont be freezing, but weather reports seems to say I can expect temperatures anywhere from 10C to 28C on the trip. Hello packing nightmare. I'm borrowing a waterproof jacket, since every site says I need that, and am tryng to figure out how to fit 5 entire wardrobes in one small suitcase I can manage myself. Anyone know where to find Mary Poppins so I can borrow her carpet bag? Vicki Nelson's backpack would work just as well.

I have entirely lost track of who is performing on this trip, I think the cast of Title of Show are still going, but I'll have to find out when I get there.

And I can only afford one excursion so I think I'm going to try for the one that combines whale watching with a glacier visit. I'm packing a hat, scarf, gloves, etc for that. We're going to Juneau and Skagway and somewhere else I forget and Prince Rupert, BC. No clue what I'll do in those places  when I'm not excursioning. Guess I'll find out.

Yay, holiday away!

12:38 pm: Because I promised
So, in reasearching Pride yesterday, i discovered that there was a Broadway Backwards-style (for almost everyone here, that is when the girls sing the boy songs and the boys sing the girl songs) show playing at Buddies last night. Failing to convince anyone to go with me, I went by myself and it was much fun. It was put on by the Toronto cast of Bare, which I may see becasue some of the voices were great. It started with me correcting the callbacks to Raise the Roof (the guy believed mine were right when I told him Julia Murney taught them on the cruise). There were songs from Rent and Spring Awakening, Dreamgirls, Pippin, Sweet Charity, 2 from Wild Party and Ragtime.  My one issue is that it was advertised as "classic Broadway". I believe the only show that might be classifiable as classic was Sweet Charity, and that might be pushing it.  And there were a few popular songs that I didn't know. Funny, I knew every single show tune. Who's surprised?

I think they should do it yearly like they do in NY, it's an awesome Pride event.

03:00 pm: Forbidden Broadway
http://www.broadwayworld.com/calendarmoreinfo.cfm?id=16139

London theatregoers. Heads up. Forbidden Broadway is playing at Menier Chocolate Factory this summer. I have seen about 5 editions of this show and it consistently the funniest thing ever to be on stage. In it they spoof current and older shows, mostly musicals, and performers by rewriting lyrics. Casts are supremely talented at doing impressions. Everyone who enjoys theatre should definitely go see this!

07:21 pm: One week
I'm impatiently waiting for the Tony awards. I usually get excited about them, but this year I've seen a number of the shows up for major awards and have a great and ever-increasing desire for Next to Normal to kick Billy Elliot's butt and win most of the 11 it's nominated for. Not that I have anything against Billy Elliot. It's quite a good show, pretty, touching, but Next to Normal is absolutely brilliant. Not in the English sense of the word but in the original, genius meaning.  It needs to win best show (though it probably wont). It absolutely needs Alice Ripley to win best actress. And Tom Kitt to win for music.  As well as lo\ts of others. For once I'd like the little show with the 6 person cast adn the original idea to win, it's happened before (Avenue Q), and this show is about 10,000 times better.  Beyond that, I really want Angela Lansbury to win best supporting actress in a play because she is Angela Lansbury and is awesome and really funny in the part and that'll give her 5, which will tie her for most performance Tonies ever.  Go Angela!

Can it be next Sunday now?

12:06 pm: Fail = me
So, in my last post we discussed me going to NY. Which I did.

I saw 9 to 5, which was a great deal of fun. Everyone came out stage door including Allison Janney, which isn't a given. The show is very light and fluffy and everything promised. I'm not thrilled about a couple of changes they made since LA, but whatever.

Sat I went to see Susan Sarandon and Jeffrey Rush in Exit the King. It was an interesting play, very well acted, though not really my thing. Still ,worth seeing.
Then I went to Shrek the musical, basically to see Brian d'Arcy James, who was out that night. Bad. The show is sillier than the movie, overdone, the songs are not terribly inventive. Sutton Foster made a good Fiona and had a totally unnecessary to the show but relieving to me dance number, which was my favourite bit. John Tartaglia was good. Otherwise, it's a skip.  Sutton did come out stage door though, which is very unusual for her. That was almost worth sitting through it.

Sun went to Next to Normal. Best show ever. Everyone should see it. It's a musical about a woman with bipolar disorder who gets shock therapy. You can't know more or it'll ruin it, but Alice Ripley is a genius and awesome and fantastic and more things. And the rest of the cast, music, design and everything are brilliant.

Then I came back to Toronto.

Then there were Tony nominations. Next to Normal got 11. They should win them all. They won't. But they should. 9 to 5 failed to get nominated for best musical, Shrek did. BAD choice on somebody's part. Allison Janney got nominated for Best Actress (And also won the Drrama Desk award for that) but she won't win because Alice Ripley will.

Then I hung around here for almost 2 weeks.

Then I went back to New York. Because it's me.
I saw Morena Baccarin in a play at Playwrights Horizons called Our House. It was pretty good, and any Firefly fans heading to the City in the next few weeks should go see her. Also, she's cut her hair very short.
And I went back to Next to Normal because it was that awesome.
And then Julia Murney had a concert, where she sang So, Anyway from Next to Normal and a lot of other things, and Tom Kitt named his baby after her and that was all awesome too.

And now I'm back. That's the end.

09:34 pm: New York
So, off to the city again. I'll have time to see 4 shows. I already have very good seats for 9 to 5 (Allison Janney, Stephanie Block, I know 3 of you are jealous) and front row for Next to Normal (if any of you other than Elizabeth knew who Alice Ripley was, you'd be jealous) and I will decide my saturday shows based on availability and mood. I love this game!

12:40 pm: Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the TTC?
This morning I got up very early so I could go to pick up something at the CNIB. Nowy, you would think that someplace for the blind (ie. people who find travelling around difficutl) would be accessible, but not so much. There's a bus from Davisville station that goes there, but it runs every 20 min. So I got to Davisville station, waited 18 minutes and off I went.  Left CNIB, waited 30 min for the bus back to Davisville, waited 12 minutes on ourdoor platform (because outdoor platforms are such a good idea in Canada) and went off to work.

Several times a week I need to leave my building and go to our main building to covere reception for a lunch hour or end of day.  So today I went back into the subway at 11.30 to get the train to be at reception for noon. Good in theory.  I stand, and I wait, and I stand, and I wait.  At 11.50 (because 20 min between subways is ridiculous even by TTC standards) I go back upstairs, where there are 3 ttc employees standing outside the booth. Go over and get told "oh, the subway isn't running right now."  Knowing there are still people standing on the platform I ask "do you think you should make an announcement?" to which the logical response is, of course "you can check your attitude now". 

So I went upstairs, got a taxi-chit, got to reception - 15 min late - and got on the TTC website to make a complaint. In the taxi over I heard there was a shooting one station down. So there is a good reason for the subway to be not-running. Fine. I have no problem with that. I object to them not mentining it.  It would have killed one of th 3 employees to get on the intercom and say "there's a problem on the system, we will be running shuttles until it is fixed"?  And loving the response when I suggested that.  What happened to customer service?

This comes a couple weeks after I got mad at them for getting rid of the free parking they supplied at suburban subway stations for metropass holders in order to reduce driving downtown.  As of April 1st, drivers will have to pay for parking. By the time you add up $109/month for transit (the most expensive transit service anywhere) and $6 or $7/day, a lot of people are going to find it cheaper to drive downtown and park there.  I'm so glad they are concerned aobut fossil fuels and the environment.

Also, they are averaging 3 subway problems or slow-downs a week, just during rush-hour. I don't know about the rest of the time. It's not like we're paying for decent service or anything!

03:11 pm: Happy Holiday
Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Yule(well, had)/few days off work.

I think I will watch Sound of Music tonight. That's like Christmassy, right?

07:00 pm: Shopping-fail!
Apparently, the next hardest thing to buy in Toronto, after a PDA, is a person-shaped cookie cutter!  I am trying to make gingerbread cookies, and 8 out of 10 stores visited had no cookie cutters at all.  Kitchen Stuff Plus and one dollar store had teeny little cookie cutters, but nothing person shaped.  I'm positive this shouldn't be so difficult!

Bulk Barn needs to move into the middle of the city, I don't want to go to Scarborough or Thornhill!