February 10, 2010
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Leash-free park update

So, off we go, Memphis and I, for our first visit to the official new leash-free dog park at the filtration plant lands next to Col. Sam Smith Park. We enter from the parking lot of the filtration plant and I don’t see any signs. I don’t see any by-law enforcement officers either so I let Memphis loose. Any self-respecting by-law enforcement officer is in a coffee shop by now. The new dog park is on a north-south axis and when we have a north wind like we had tonight, it howls. The snow was horizontal. It was very, very cold. I don’t see any signs. E. must have set up that picture I posted earlier. There are no signs at all…

I almost tripped over the first sign before I saw it. It was kind of adorable, in a pathetic sort of way. The City had affixed the signs to what appear to be 6′ long steel fence units with cute little legs. I guess it didn’t occur to them that they should try to stake them into the ground in any way. There were two signs, and both were lying on the ground, knocked over by the first serious gusts of wind. I figure they’ll last out there for maybe two days before the local kids creatively move them, or we have a real snow storm and they get buried.

Even though I knew the City hadn’t promised much beyond allowing dogs to play off-leash in that little area of the field (and I’m happy they’ve designated the area), I guess in my heart I thought they’d make a bit of an effort. Maybe the signs are just phase 1 and when spring comes we’ll see something a little more substantial. The good thing is that this is a municipal election year and I’ll be asking every candidate that comes knocking on my door what they plan to do to enhance the area.

February 9, 2010
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Navajo Rug

When we were out at the opera the other night, somebody said something about that old song, you know the one that has ay yi yi in it…not whoopitiyi-o, ay yi yi, and the song was Navajo Rug. C. had heard it somewhere but couldn’t remember the name of it, and I think I said that’s a Tom Russell song. It turned out our friends weren’t familiar with Tom Russell, so this one goes out to C&A

February 7, 2010
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Crazy Heart

How good can a movie about a broken down alcoholic real deal country singer be? In the case of Crazy Heart, it’s pretty damn good, riding on a fantastic performance by Jeff Bridges as Bad Blake. The film reminded me a little of The Wrestler – the characters share a number of similarities. I also thought of some real-life performers like Townes Van Zandt, who sadly died in his 50s, ravaged by years and years of self-abuse.

A special treat for this accordion freak was a brief appearance by Joel Guzman, playing a Hohner Corona II as part of a pick-up band. Fans of Conjunto music will certainly know Mr. Guzman’s work as will fans of other performers he has played with, notably Joe Ely and Tom Russell.

I recommend this one highly.

February 7, 2010
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A Night at the Opera

Thanks to a very generous friend who gave us some excellent tickets, off we went last night with C&A to experience the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Otello. This was quite an adventure for me. I know nothing whatever about Opera. It’s really outside my experience, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.

It was lots of fun. Sur-titles above the stage helped me out a lot, seeing as I know no Italian and aside from knowing the basic story, couldn’t understand what they were singing about. It’s a really complex production. There’s a full orchestra, complete with conductor and who knows how many people in the cast. At some points it seemed as if there were dozens of people on stage.

The whole business seems like a really formal way of telling a story. I think you need stories with big broad themes to make it work. Even though it’s an old form, sung in a language I can’t understand, I enjoyed the experience.

February 6, 2010
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Go – the battle continues

I played four games with Vox last night, winning the first two and losing the last two. They were all good, well fought games. The picture is from the second game. I was playing black. I played the circled point, which effectively made it impossible for Vox to achieve two eyes. He captured underneath, not realizing he was doomed, and I neatly stole the eye potential by playing the point the yellow arrow shows. If Vox got to the circled point first, it would have left enough room underneath for eye-shape.

Filed under: Go