Happy Halloween (or, in my opinion, Bah Humbug!)

Back again.

Let's do this in categories, shall we?  Two theater outings in the last three weeks, The first, called the It Girl, was a wonderful little musical about, of all things, The It Girl.  This was done by a small theater troop which does nothing but musicals - not one that I have previously told you about, but yet another one!  Great production (although done on a shoestring), great choreography, great directing, great singing, acting not so great but, luckily, not much was required, young enthusiasm was quite enough.  I went with Tom, my very favourite theater buddy, and we had a wonderful time.   He actually called later in the week to see if I had time to do it yet once again and I was really sorry I couldn't.

The other bit of theater was at Jericho Beach, where something called The Slamming Door Artist Collective (I am not sure I believe in "woman's theater", but there you go) put on Ibsen's A Doll's House.  I am sure I have told you the story of my father and Ibsen, so I will pass on that, and will only say 1) the Norwegians are very depressing, and 2) A Doll's House in particular is hard to watch.  Nora is such a silly, awful character - until she isn't -  and her husband is not much better.  Don't get me wrong, it was well acted (too well, which is why she was hateful and hard to watch) and well directed and I was glad to have gone (which I did with Karen, a friend from bridge, a new theater buddy, and, as it turns out, Tom's cousin - check mark in the small world department), but another one where I can safely say I didn't really have a good time.

Okay, on to more cheerful things.  Barbara Seagram, our very own Canadian bridge guru, who I love and adore, was back in Vancouver to do some teaching at a weekend tournament at out bridge club.

There's Diana, on the left, the organizational wizard, and my bridge partner Robin....

Robin and I were in charge of selling Barbara's books, and a great job we did too, if I do say so myself.....

.....anyway, Barbara (center) seemed happy - autographed my books and everything.....

On top of everything else, she is a great teacher, and I always learn so much  (or think I do, anyway....if only I could remember it!!) Anyway, the classes were fun, and so was the bridge (the lessons must have stuck around for a few minutes - Robin and I scored points, at least on Saturday if not Sunday.

More small world stuff?  Turns out that Tom (see above) knows Barbara from his graduate school days in Toronto, and she was over to his house for dinner the Monday after.

Brett, Tom's roommate, is a consummate chef, and outdid himself in the cooking department....

....and I think Tom was pretty proud of himself for the wonderful dinner party!!

Barbara will be coming back to Vancouver next year, and to the desert in March, and I am already looking forward to both...

As I am heading off for the desert shortly, it was a week of "goodbye" (for now) lunches.

Colleague Bea and former colleague Eric (formerly seen in these pages) had our usual good time at our favourite Japanese joint, whose name, after all these years, I still don't know...

And law school friend, acting lawyer and friend Richard did what we do twice a year, went for dim sum  for his birthday and mine (this was his).  We never run out of things to talk about.  Maybe that's because we only see each other two times a year.....

Richard is a political junkie,so this was a particularly lively lunch, between the recent Canadian election and the upcoming American one....

Last item on the lunch department, a last lunch with Robin after bridge, for a while (she is headed off to the desert even earlier than I am....)

I do hate Halloween, and I do hate being told what to wear.  But it was the bridge club, and they asked nicely, so here you have a sampling.....

It was a great game for my (seemingly obligatory) stupid error on one of the last hands,  Oh well.  We had a lot of fun (Robin being already gone, I played with Dyanne, seen with me above, and we get along famously.  Hopefully, she will come visit to the desert.... )

What else can I tell you?  I got reappointed to my job on contract for another three years, about which I am very glad....  (the only person who might conceiveably cared about this is David, so, of course, I cried when I got back to the office.)

I have put earnest money down for the trip to Antarctica, so it looks like Peter and I are really going (liftoff is January 17, 2017!!).....

I had friends over to my lovely kitchen...

...for brunch and bridge, and it looks like if I work at it, I can still entertain.  It is a great place to entertain, too, and I am still very happy about the move...

Still going for walks in the neighborhood....

fo

(those pictures were taken while it was still sunny.  The weather has turned, my friends; the rain has arrived.)

Three books since last we spoke, Ian McEwen's The Children Act, A Serpent's Tale, by Ariana Franklin (a medieval, historical - ie., Henry II - mystery), and the  start of a new series, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, by Vaseem Khan.  The last takes place in Bombay, and looks to be a new First Ladies Detective Agency series except in India instead of Africa, a male inspector instead of a female detective - and an elephant!  (New series are so exciting - it is all that happy anticipation of more books to come!!!)   And, after all that fluff, I have just started Lawrence in Arabia, by Scott Anderson, about the infamous Lawrence, as well as three others, a German, an American, and a R0umania, who among them shaped the middle east we know today.  I know a lot about that period before World War I, but from a Western, European, American point of view.  This is from a very middle eastern point of view, and while I am not very far along in the book, I can tell you already that we are reaping what we sowed.....

Well, this Snow Bird is heading south on Monday, so the next post will be from Palm Springs.  Talk to you then....

Thought I was dead, again?

Sorry about that.  I quite enjoy doing the blog - it is just sitting down to it that seems to be the problem.  That, and the fact that my attempt to get a new camera to dazzle you with fizzled.  It has never been able to hold a charge, and all attempts to rectify the problem have failed.  So I am back to the old camera, with the spot on the lens which I have to dutifully edit out, either while taking the picture itself or in the process of prettying them up for the blog.  Oh, well.

So, what has happened in the nearly a month since I last wrote?  Not much, really.  I went to the theater, again with friend Deb, but this time to the Stanley Theater.  We saw a play called Disgraced.  When you are telling people about a play, they always ask "did you like it?".  I can't say that I liked this play.  It was well written, well acted, and topical.  (A very integrated Pakistani investment banker is living with the ultimate shiksa artist, who has decided that Islam is, well, just terrific.)  Friends Jewish liberal art agent/gallery owner and his black wife round out the cast, set in a lux Manhattan penthouse.  There were some funny bits, but it was too difficult to watch to be able to say I liked it.  But I would highly recommend that you see it if it comes your way, assuming that you go to the theater to be moved, and not just amused.

There was a memorial for my friend and colleague Cec's wife Karen.  They had been married for 51 years, and I know she was his best friend.  He will be lonely, I think, but not devastated. He is a devout Christian, and I know he will be comforted by the thought that she has "gone to a better place" (her cancer had metastasized into her bones at the end) and that he will, ultimately, see her again.  It is one of those times when I wish I could believe.

Well, I do believe.  Sort of.  I believe that David, or his aura, is looking out for me.  Either that or I must have been good to my mother at some point (not that I ever remember being good to my mother) - because my life is really very benign, and I feel very lucky.

In any case, as Cec says, these events are not memorials, they are reunions.  Indeed, there were a good contingent of people from our employment, past and present. I know Cec appreciated the support, and the company made an otherwise not very pleasant gathering bearable.

There was the usual fall birthday dinner.  Debbie (differentiated from "Deb" mentioned above), Robin and I (the three muskateers from law school) have birthdays within three months of each other and have, on and off since law school (a few minutes ago) celebrated together.

We started with drinks at my place (Robin hadn't been before, and everyone oohed and aahed appropriately), and went to dinner at my local go-place for Indian, the Original Tandoori.  The food was okay (I think I might have actually o.d.'d on Indian by this time in my Vancouver stay), but the company was, as always, splendid.

Probably voted Most Uplifting in this period was Rigoletto, which I saw at the Vancouver Opera's home, the Queen Elizabeth Theater.  I haven't gone to the Vancouver Opera for years.  Generally speaking, their offerings are pot boilers (getting bums in seats is the watchword, don't you know), and I will have seen them done better elsewhere.  I know, I know, Rigoletto might be considered pot boiler.  But it happens to be one of my favourite pot boilers, and in this case, I am very glad I went,  It was a glorious production, and the singers were also good.  Gilda was sung by a local favourite, Simone Osbourne, and she acquitted herself admirably.  The Duke, Bruce Sledge, was fine, and certainly looked like the cad and philanderer that he is.  But the star was Rigoletto, played by Gordon Hawkins,  He was just fabulous, and I was thrilled to discover that he will be singing Albericht in the Ring Cycle I will be seeing in Washington in May.  Lucky me!!  If you get a chance to hear him, do.

Did I say the orchestra was spot-on too?  All in all, a wonderful night of grand opera!!!

What else?  Oh, yes, as I have been working pretty much flat out for five months, I thought I would give myself a little break, and go to the bridge tournament in Seaside, Oregon.  My friend Mariah, who is not a bridge player, thought she would like to come along for the ride (and, of course, the beach).  So, I drove down to Seattle to pick her up, and we (or should I say, she) drove the rest of the way to Seaside, another four hours or so.  
   

We stayed in a funky old motel (The City Center Motel for those of you who are keeping track) about a block from the beach and less than than that from the Civic Center where the tournament was being held.  That motel David (who, being a Portland boy, spent every summer on the Oregon Coast) David would have recognized, and some of the rest of the town was still typical sea side town like.  The rest of it, as you can see below, has been built up with condo's and large vacation rentals.

Who knew that Seaside was the end of the Lewis and Clark trail?

We ate a number of seaside restaurants, including Finn's Seafood, Norma's, and The Crabby - something - and gorged on lovely fresh seafood of all varieties.

Mariah worked and walked on the beach and ate, I played bridge and walked on the promenade (the older I get, the less I like sand, but I do like the outlook) and ate, and, all in all, we had a good time.  (and, in case you are wondering, the bridge was good.  The tournament was well run, and the hands were interesting.  As I did not come with a partner, I was playing with pick-up partners, and therefore adjusting my play for each session.  Not the best recipe for getting points, although I did score some.  But I did meet some nice people, and people seem to want to play with me again.  And I have a new motto:  Smile at your partner - it makes him play better.

So, all in all, a good weekend!!

What else? Colleague Deirdre was in from Victoria last Monday (yes, sports fans, we are almost caught up).  We were meant to go out to dinner, but as she brought some nice wine, we opted for cheese and crackers and wine on the deck instead, and nibbled and ate until it got too chilly to sit out any more.  I loved it - it was comfortable and easy, and something I should think to do with friends more often.

There was time in there for a few walks...

...in my neighborhood...

....and around Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park with friend John.

And, of course, there is the reading.  I don't remember where I left you on the reading list.  First we go to India, with Such a Long Journey, by Rohinton Mistry (who also wrote one of my favourite books about India, A Fine Balance - that balance being one between hope and despair).  It was not as good I didn't think, as A Fine Balance, but well worth reading.

Then there was The Book of Splendor, about Jews in Prague in 1601, and one of the most mystic of things in Judaism, the creation of a golem to help the Jews in time of need.  The stoning of the (Jewish) heroine reminded me why I have given up my Jewish card - what a tribal, backward looking, ritualistic religion!!  (I know, I know, they all are, but this one was meant to be mine....)  

At the last dim sum outing, my friend Joyce returned my book by Jung Change about the last empress of China, and brought me her copy of Wild Swans by the same author.  It was a good book, but difficult to read.  It is about three generations of women in China (the last being the author), starting with bound feet and going through the Revolution, the Cultural Revolution, and the disillusion.  Also worth reading, though a bit too much banging on the head about the horrors of Mao.  

Being without a book in Seaside - horrors - I found that rarest of all things, an independent book store (one that seemed to be  doing very well indeed, thank you very much.  One of their "recommended" books was a book called "March" by Geraldine Brooks.  (No, it is not her newest, which is coming out in mid-October).  It is about Mr. March, the father of - The Little Women.  I thought it was a great premise, and she is a great writer.  I scarfed that down, but then, of course, had to re-read Little Women, which I am in the midst of doing right now.  (Of all things, better than I remembered.)  I was so glad I still had the volume I remembered, and that it hadn't disappeared in the purge that was my move. 

I love reading like that, one thing leading to another.  Next, of course, I will have to read Geraldine Brook's new book, as well as her old one, which is called People of the Book, about Jews in the Middle Ages (I found that on my shelf as well).

Finally, some lighter fare, an Ian Rankin mystery, Doors Open, (the first without the quintessentially - gosh,I spelled that right on the first try - Scottish detective Rebus.  I am in the middle of that too, but seems like a good read.  Of course, I have a few more items on my night table.  Next time. 

I am winding down, the last rounds of theater, bridge, and dinners before heading back down to the desert.  The weather has turned, and I am ready to go.  But I will touch base with you before then.  Stick with me.  I like knowing you are out there reading.  It keeps me - I don't know, grounded.   

P.S.

Forgot to mention that I also saw Mr. Holmes last week, the latest iteration of a movie about Sherlock Holmes.  I liked it a lot; mind you, if Ian McClellan were reading the phone book, I would probably go.  This had a lot of depth, and a lot of humour, considering it was about a 93 year old Holmes going dottie.  Two thumbs up.  

Day to day

Just back to the normal routine.  After Peter left, I was back to work, and the usual round of dinners...

Friend Deirdre (left) and neighbor and colleague Leslie helped me explore the neighborhood.  Found yet another great Chinese restaurant, although the name is a bit of an enigma.  It is called Shady La.  My best guess is that they were trying for Shangra La and something got lost in translation.  But hey, we were the only round eyes in the place, it is quite close to my house, and the food was quite acceptable.

The usual bridge in South Surrey on Thursday, but Robin and I were joined by Betty and Mike, and tried a new (to us) place called Clancey's Pub (or something like that) for lunch.  Pretty good for pub fare, and the company was great!  (the bridge was not so great, but hey.....)

Played in a bridge tournament on the weekend, though, with someone I have never played with, and came in first on Friday, so that was pretty exciting - for me, at least!!!

The weather was glorious, as it mostly is in Vancouver in the summer and fall, and had time for some long walks around my place.....

I played kitchen bridge at friend Robin's on Tuesday (I am a spare for their group)

And even squeezed in some theater.  Friend Deb joined me for dinner at Enigma (my old standby when going to the theater at Jericho Beach).  Quite a nice little neighborhood restaurant.....

....and the play was great too.  We saw A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, and yes, it held up quite well, even in light of the big fuss about the Hilary Mantel books/TV series/play, etc.  The actors (old friends by now) are well suited to the roles, and it was nice to be back to Cromwell the bastard instead of Mantel's Cromwell, the nice family man!

Finally, we were back to dim sum today, with the usual cast of characters.....

Joyce.....

Alisha.....

...and Sheila....

...but a new location.  We went to the Shanghai River, which those of you who are still awake will remember I have reviewed in these pages before.  However, while I have been there for dinners, and one late lunch, I have never made it to dim sum before.  It was absolutely fabulous, and made even nicer by the fact that (1) they had those wonderful spare ribs in vinegar sauce which they have on their dinner menu; and (2) dim sum is so much cheaper than dinner!

Nothing much going on next week, but I will try to keep you posted - literally - anyway!!!

Love my new digs!!!

I do love my new digs, although I am always leaving something at home that I meant to bring to work, as I don't have routines yet as to where to put what.  It will come, though, and meanwhile, it is all unpacked and clean, and, with a few very minor exceptions, just the way I want it.

And I have had my first non-working guests, both short and long term.  Elaine and Andrew came over after work for some drinks, and, well brought-up folks that they are, oohed and aahed appropriately (did I mention that already?).

And friend Peter came to visit for a week from San Francisco.  Now Peter does more opera, symphony, ballet, and art than any person that I know, but he can also sit for days in Palm Springs looking at the quail and the bunnies and the road runners and the coyotes from my patio.  So I knew that my deck, with the Fraser River and the barges and the log booms and the jumping fish and the industrial activity would appeal.  And so it did.  (I even found him some binoculars..)

We did manage to get off the deck though, first to walk the path along the river and finish up at Rommers, my local pub....

...and on Tuesday, we took the ferry to Victoria.....

One forgets how wonderful the ferry ride is until a visitor arrives.  It was a perfect day for a ferry ride, too.  Friends Andrew and Elaine (see above) are the type of people who, where ever in this world that they go, know the right hotels and the right restaurants and the right things to do. They have never, ever, steered me wrong.  In any event, they recommended the Hotel Oswego, right behind the Parliament buildings in downtown Victoria, and, in the height of the season, I managed to score a reservation.  It is really a wonderful place, at a reasonable (or what passes for reasonable in Victoria in the summer), convenient, and great service.

......and putting us right in the scenic Inner Harbour of Victoria....

And within walking distance of the famed Empress Hotel, where Peter wanted - of all things - to "do" tea......

I liked it better when they required jackets, but they still do have some standards - no flip-flops, no torn jeans, and, most importantly, no baseball caps.

It was fun, although not the way I would have chosen to spend $63 (each, albeit Canadian).  And bitter sweet in the sense that I was reminded of the time, many many years ago when we (David and I) took friends Bill and Pollyanna, and we couldn't get in because Bill didn't have a jacket.  David has been dead for almost 10 years now and Bill is dead now too.....)  Well< another item off Peter's bucket list...

Outside the Empress is this lovely statue of Emily Carr, the idea of whom I really like (I probably wouldn't have liked her in real life, though, too eccentric and messy and strange, but imagine her in a canoe in the wilds of Northern British Columbia painting those weird and wonderful landscapes and totems.....)

.....and back to our hotel for a rest in the bar.....

I was tired, so stayed there; Peter went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant, Harbour House.  He tells me I can recommend it - totally retro, from the  steak and lobster and osso bucco on the menu to waiters in tuxes, but good atmosphere and good food - assuming you are, like I am, into retro...  (the best thing about retro is the quiet...)

The next day, we got an early start with breakfast at the Blue Fox, a funky old place I've been going to for years.  I am happy to say, the breakfasts are still great - don't pass on either the bread - home made - or the potatoes - skimp on dinner, if you must.....

Then we knocked another item off of Peter's bucket list, heading out early for the infamous Buchart Gardens.  Originally a quarry, still owned by the Buchart family, and, well, gorgeous.....

I hadn't been to the gardens for years, and it was wonderful even for me, and those of you who know me know that I am not particularly a nature person.

Afterwards, we checked out the Victoria Art Museum, where I had never been.  It is actually quite a nice little place, with a good exhibit on Jock Macdonald, a Canadian artist about whom I knew absolutely nothing.  Not to mention the Emily Carrs....

Friend and colleague Lois lives in Victoria.  She and husband Alf picked us up (after the obligatory afternoon nap - it is so nice that Peter likes to nap as much as I do)...and took us for a driving tour of beautiful Victoria.....

......and for dinner at Pagliaci's, a funky old Italian restaurant downtown.....

The food was only okay, but the atmosphere and the company were great!!!!

The next morning we drifted around to a few books stores (yes, indeed, there are a few of them in down town Victoria) and art galleries, before heading to our last stop, lunch at the Bengal Lounge at the Empress this was my quid pro quo for doing tea....).

I much prefer it to the tea, certainly the best presentation of curries and the fixings that I have ever seen, and, as I recommended to Peter (note the glass), they make a fine martini, as befitting the Raj atmosphere it portrays.  Loved it.

And then, off to the ferry and back home.

By Friday, the weather had changed, but we thought we would try to dodge the raindrops and do the walk around Stanley Park.  I enlisted friend John (he of bridge playing fame) - noone knows Stanley Park better than John.  After fortifying ourselves with sushi from a local joint with the improbable name of MoMo's, we were off...

Note the Starbucks cup.  When John runs around the park, he runs.  When he walks, he drinks Starbucks.....

.....and then we were eating again (and one wonders why I don't lose weight, not that I am trying to - yet another benefit of old age....)  I had seen a German restaurant up the street from my new digs that I wanted to try (one of the pleasures of moving, learning all the new places - the all night bakery - yes we have one - my local bank - yes I still go into a bank from time to time, etc.) and Peter is always game to try a new restaurant....  It really is a German Club, called the Alpen House, but non-members can eat there.  It is a limited menu, but very "echt" German, complete with a waitress just here from Munich - and, as it was Friday night, dancing in the back.  Very funky, and yes, very retro (seems to be my word of the day), but I will definitely go back.  Can't get too much of pork knuckles and spaetzle and red cabbage, can one?

 

Saturday was still raining, but tourism waits for no rain, so we were off on another adventure.  And adventure it was.  Peter thought it would be good to try the Vancouver public transportation system.  Actually, from the new place, it was not too bad.  One block up hill (and it was a hill only by Vancouver standards, not by San Francisco standards), and then a short bus ride to the Sky Train, which takes you right down town.  Time elapsed - 40 minutes.  Not bad, really, and a good option for things downtown, as you can never find parking down town, and if you do you have to mortgage your firstborn to pay for it.

We recuperated at old favourite Earles (in my opinion, the best of the local chains)....

....and then headed off to the Vancouver Art Gallery....

Generally speaking, I don't like the Vancouver Art Gallery.  I hate the space (the former law courts, renovated, but not enough), and their permanent exhibits are sorely lacking.  However, it was raining, and although Peter is a very easy guest, I was desperate for something with which to keep him amused.  As it turns out, they had a visiting exhibit called 500 Years of Italian Art, coming from - of all places - the Scottish Museums.  It was actually quite good, and, as I have mentioned before, I love going to museums - of all sorts - with Peter.  He was an art history major, and a font of information.  He did not disappoint, and it was a lovely afternoon.

Only to come home on Saturday evening to no power.  While we were blissfully wandering around looking at Madonnas, there was apparently a freak wind storm, which left over 700,000 people without power.  It was actually quite fun.  As my place is right on the river, and right across from the industrial park on Mitchell Island, which has generators, it was almost as bright as daylight.  Cheese and crackers and fruit and wine are not too terrible for dinner.  And neither Peter nor I are so addicted to our electronics that we missed either phones or computers.  I did end up with a shopping list, though.  I had candles, but no matches (check - got a barbque lighter next day), had a flashlight but no extra batteries (check, ditto), and got a battery pack for recharging electronics, just in case.  Anyway, a tree had come down over nearby train tracks and hydro lines, so power was out in my neighborhood for 28 hours!!!!  So, the benefit of old neighborhoods - wonderful old trees.  The drawback - above-ground power lines for them to fall on.  Oh, well, another adventure, and it was more fun for sure sharing it with Peter.

Still raining on Sunday, but we managed to amuse ourselves at the world renowned Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

This is always my favourite here.the Bill Reed sculpture which has pride of place...

(Those of you who have passed through Vancouver Airport in recent memory have seen another of his work...)

There was a good temporary exhibit here as well....

... and the standing exhibit here is, of course, wonderful..

I could have taken pictures of totems for days, but you are, no doubt, happy that I controlled myself....

Dinner was the Tandoori House, a neighborhood joint but one I was already familiar with.  It will certainly become my go-to Indian restaurant in this part of the world.

Still raining on Monday, but we now have power.  Still a lazy day on the (partially covered) deck though, with the highlight being dinner at the Shanghai River, previously gloriously reviewed in these pages.  It is worth coming to Vancouver for their vinegar ribs alone.  Yes, for sure, one of the (many) great things about Peter is that he loves food as much as I do!!!

And Tuesday, after a morning of errands - sorely ignored this last week - and a last meal (lunch at the Boy with Knife, a reconstituted old favourite which - thank god - is still good - I dropped Peter off at the airport.

....and went home for a well deserved rest.

What else can I tell you?  Not much.  Finished the Henry James short stories which I was reading when last we spoke, and also finished at early Le Carre mystery - A Murder of Quality....I actually like his early stuff.  Not quite so dense as he later became.  And, on the basis of a peripheral mention in a book review, am starting to reread The Once and Future King by T.H. White (just happened to have it in my admittedly now much-reduced library).  And, of course still reading The Economists passed on to me by John and - pleasant surprise - the old New Yorkers brought as a house gift by Peter.

So, for the moment, all is quiet on the Western front.  Back to work, and eating (less I hope) at home in my lovely new kitchen.  I'll get back to you soon.