Highlights from the St Andrews Anniversary Ball, Macbeth, and Thanksgiving Dinner

Last weekend was a busy one for yours truly.

Thursday night involved a lot of meetings and work, per usual.

Friday I spent baking an apple pie and pumpkin muffins for the holiday (Thanksgiving) season. I went to dinner with another American in Canada, a friend of mine with whom I celebrated last year. We had yummy yummy food, chicken, and stuffing, and green bean casserole, and gravy... and then apple pie. I wish I had more apple pie.

After dinner, my friend and I went to see the Hart House performance of Macbeth, which was pretty amazing. It's been ages (high school) since I read or watched Shakespeare, so the language took some getting used to, but the play is a powerful one, and was well acted and very well staged at Hart House. My favorite part might have been the way the witches were displayed behind black cheesecloth/mesh screens, and light would shine above them at strategic times so they were hidden and then foggily revealed. Lady Macbeth was fun to hate, and Macbeth was played very convincingly. We dressed up to see it, which just adds to the fun.

Saturday night I went to the St Andrews Anniversary Ball, which was great. Great food, really fun dancing, lots of kilts and sgian dhus, and bagpipes.

Hot Yam! That Gazpacho Was Good!

Yesterday I finally left my apartment to see people, after several days of limiting my experiences to my apartment, my friend's Netflix account (I've recently become hooked on MI-5, known in the UK by its more appealing title, Spooks), the library, and of course, the grocery store.

I meant to get up early, as I always mean to, but when I finally dragged my lazy self out of bed, I had just enough time to get ready for lunch, at the Hot Yam "lunch party" on campus, which operates every Thursday around (you guessed it!) lunchtime. For $4 guests receive an intimidatingly full plate of all-vegan lunch. Sadly, having had breakfast less than two hours before I got there, I didn't have the appetite to do justice to all that food. However, I really did enjoy the gazpacho. A perfect, very well-done complement to a hot, humid afternoon, indeed. We sat on the lawn in front of the building to eat, fending off ants and other small, many-legged critters while catching up on each others' exciting (or not-so-exciting, in my case) summers.

Today, it's back to work, this time drafting a proposal for the student conference.

In other news, it turns out that too many silly people voted for The Tourist at next week's Harbourfront Center Free Flick, so I won't be attending - instead, I'm scrounging around trying to find a place to watch Cairo Time, and in a last-ditch effort to see it sometime in the near future, will no doubt eventually put a "Cairo Time" post-it note on my computer monitor.

Amal, Outdoor Movies, and Lakeside Breezes

I went to the Harbourfront Centre again tonight, this time to see a free movie! The sun was beginning to set as I got there, and the breezes off the lake felt wonderful. There were a few sailboats and canoes out on the water, and the ubiquitous ducks (I hate ducks. Ask me to tell that story another time, though). The islands looked beautiful. Just before the film started, the sun set, with puffy pink and blue clouds hanging over the water.

There are two weeks left - free showings at the WestJet stage, on Tuesdays at 9pm (sundown). The emcee was loquacious, but in the end he did get to presenting the movie.

Next week: Lost in Translation
August 9: Audience Choice (Vote for Cairo Time!!)

Tonight's movie was called Amal. It's a film I'd never heard about until I watched the trailer before deciding to go out tonight. The film is a bittersweet (mostly sweet) story about a poor autorickshaw driver, content with his life, and always looking out for others. He unknowingly gets offered a windfall - an inheritance from one of his customers. The plot follows the customer's lawyers as they try to find the main character, and of the family members as they try to prevent the Will from being realized. The film is about the main character, but New Delhi also plays a role, as he drives his rickshaw around the city. The ending is perfect. I repeat, perfect. It could not end better.

I love this film. I'm no critic, but I highly recommend it. Go see it. Do.

Rooftop Garden at UofT

Once more, blogTO.com has delightful news. This time, it's about a student-run rooftop garden at the university. They even have a beehive on the roof to polinate the plants!

Even better, they give tours:

Interested in visiting the Sky Garden? Bi-monthly tours start at 5:00 p.m. in the main lobby of the Galbraith Building located at 35 St. George Street. RSVP to urbanagriculturesociety@gmail.com to reserve your spot or view the tour schedule here.

Click this post's subject link for the full article.

Finally, a Festival!

Ever since I returned from backpacking, I've been hiding out in my apartment, resting my knee (and shoulder, after I wrenched it filling a watering can) and getting quite a bit of work done. I finally got bored yesterday, so I checked out blogTO, which I remember every now and then, as a good place to find out about happenings in Toronto. I ended up reading about the Tirgan Iranian Festival, taking place this weekend at the Harbourfront Centre.

Today, I biked downtown, and after eventually finding my way out of random parks and parking lots between Front St and Queens Quay W., I reached the Centre, and the festival.

Wandered around a bit, looking at the wares (I didn't spend much time browsing, since I easily succumb to the temptation of pretty things, and have no money to buy said pretty things). Decided I was hungry, so I walked around the "World Cafe", a little box of vendors from Iranian restaurants in the city, and bought a koobi-something wrap from one of them. Having no idea what anything was, I just asked the cashier for his recommendation. It was really tasty! Mm.

After awhile (I don't know how long, since I forgot to bring any kind of time-telling device), I noticed one of the stages was occupied. Seated on a little hill covered in hot, fake turf, I watched a few minutes of demonstrations on the Daf, a wide-framed drum, and then made my way (past the tea house) to another stage, where the Silk Road dance company was scheduled to perform at 3pm. At the tea house, I bought a minty drink, called sekanjabin, that was delicious, sweet and refreshing and summery. Got to the stage a bit late, and ended up sitting half in the sun (one quarter of my back, almost exactly square-shaped, is the only unburned section of my upper back and shoulders - don't ask me how that happened). The performance was incredible! They performed dances from all over the Persian Empire and Silk Road, including the Azerbaijan Tea Dance; Tajikistan Tulip Dance; one from Afghanistan that had been taught by a woman who had lived there during the Soviet period; and a dance that, before Christianity arrived in the region, celebrated the birth of the firstborn girl in a family. The costumes were gorgeous, and handmade. One set, for an Uzbekistan dance, was made from Samarkand silk in an Ikat pattern, that had been donated by a woman who saw the company's performance there. The dances themselves were beautiful, but I must admit, my favorite part was imagining the history of the region and the dances and the peoples. I highly recommend the performance.

Overall, a very good day.

Earth Hour 2011 - Go Beyond the Hour

First notice I had of this year's Earth Hour (and I haven't thought about it in at least a year, maybe more) was a glimpse I caught on a posted ad on the subway going home today.

The second was a tweet on Twitter by NatGeo, leading to this article.

I don't think I've every participated in an Earth Hour, in all the years it's been organized, but I like the idea (and check out the image of Hong Kong in the article - find 10 things that are different in the second photo...see more pictures).

I like to think I've been living greener than ever here in Toronto, partly because the city composts, partly because I have no access to a car, and due to a few other little things: having a bona fide thermos to take my coffee to school in; being too poor to afford ziploc bags or new leftover dishes; not having a dishwasher or laundry in my apartment. Of course, not all of these things automatically reduce my carbon footprint, but I re-use glass jars, wash my dishes without running the water except to fill the sink; and I avoid doing laundry until it is absolutely necessary.

Turning off lights is harder, but right now, for instance, the only light I have on is the one by my bed. I've unplugged all non-essential electronics, too.

So if I participate in Earth Hour this year, I'm sure it will be exciting worthwhile. If I don't, well, I won't feel too badly about it. I'll just remember to keep turning off lights I'm not using, for the rest of the year.

Details:
Saturday, March 26, 8:30pm - 9:30pm (local time)
The only rule? No lights!
See my new widget!

Party like it's... 1413? Happy Anniversary, St Andrews!

Last night the St Andrews Alumni Club of Toronto hosted the Principal and Vice Chancellor of St Andrews University, Louise Richardson, for a black-tie dinner at the Royal York in celebration of the 600th anniversary of the university.

Aside from a few minor glitches, and in planning anything, there will always be one or two, the event went off without a hitch. Approximately 85 guests showed up, everyone dressed snazzily, and mingled with refreshments before the dining room opened. I spent most of this time handing out name cards and answering the question, "where is the coat room?"

If I had a digital camera, this post would include pictures, but sadly, such is not the case.

At any rate, we sat down to dinner with a slide show of Googled images of St Andrews (and Kate Middleton posing in her underwear - a picture that just sold for an obscene amount of money in London) and beautiful live harp music in the background. The salad was the best part of the dinner, except for the rolls. Having worked a few weddings last summer, I wasn't really surprised.

Between the main course and dessert, Doug Gibson traveled around the room with a mic, gathering stories from anyone interested in sharing their St Andrews experiences with the rest of the room. The first speaker was a woman who graduated in 1944!!

After dinner Louise Richardson addressed the guests, and did a wonderful job. I was very impressed with what she had to say and with her plans for the university. I hope she achieves the things she's set out to do. Recent graduates might be interested to know that the new library project had to be scrapped due to little to no financial support from the government, and instead the less-costly renovation plans have focused on increasing seating ... and books. The university has bought land out by Guardbridge in order to house graduate students and unused library stores, among other things - and I believe some of that acreage has been earmarked for a bio-mass plant. She mentioned other interesting projects, but sadly I didn't take notes and can't remember any more. She fielded several questions about tuition (no mention of the outrageous hikes in England), the library, student demographics, and the Prince and soon-to-be-Princess's visit to the campus last month. Apparently the couple has fond memories of their experiences there. Who doesn't, I would like to know?

Which reminds me. Of course the biggest piece of news surrounding the university at this time is not, as you might think (but you probably know better), the university's anniversary, but rather the university's status as top matchmaking university in the [world]. Taking advantage of this were GlobalTV, who attended the event in order to interview any guests who met and fell in love with their partners while at St Andrews. Somewhat unflatteringly, the Principal and Vice Chancellor gave half the credit for this status to "isolation." Hmm. Making the best of a small selection, perhaps? I kid.

Door prizes were awarded, I stood up to be acknowledged for my role in the planning of the event, and walked home with the centerpiece, a small bush of Scottish heather - but that completes the surfeit of interesting news about the event.

Take Coffee, Add Indie Music...

... and you have a great evening in store. Or at least, that's how last night went for me. 

The line-up at my neighborhood coffee shop last night included two of my new favorites (I'd never heard either before): Emily Spiller and the Jessica Stuart Two, a temporary derivative of the Jessica Stuart Few. I know what I like in music, but I'm not a music critic, nor do I know much about describing music, so you won't find any details here, but check out these links to their websites, where you can sample some songs and buy CDs if you're so inclined.

One of my near and dear Toronto friends and I arrived a little late, sadly missing the opening numbers, but we did get to hear awesome music for the greater portion of three hours. Being late, we got front-row seats on the staple cozy vintage couch, about three to four feet away from the "stage." For the first time, I watched how a one woman manages to sound like a five-piece band and heard/saw a koto (a traditional Japanese instrument that is longer than I am tall, looks amazingly complicated to play, and sounds great with a bass).

So now I'm a huge fan of coffeehouse concerts, and can't wait to see more at the local hub!

King James and Gutenberg are Together at the Fisher Library!

Somehow I never arrive at these things directly. I suppose it's more fun to find out about them indirectly...

Went to the opening of the exhibit on the King James Bible that is currently on display at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and have seen the amazing variations in form that the Bible has taken over the centuries. In the context of research for another project, I came across this:





On a side note, very proud of my computer skills, since I just figured out which part of the embedding code creates the green color of the play bar on the bottom of the video! Okay, so it was cutting and pasting, but reading coding languages is like reading Greek for me.

Anyway, if you're in Toronto, and you haven't checked it out yet, go see the exhibit at the Fisher - they have the really big Bibles (and a page from the Gutenberg press, ask to see that one) and really really little Bibles, pop-ups, cartoons, ancient languages and more!

If you can't get to Toronto before June 3, listen to PJ Carefoote talk about it here:

Romancing a Fish

Found this on a blog at U of T, after a recent TED Talk at Hart House. I don't know much about it, but it sounds incredible.

Advent, Day 10

Wow. Ten days already! I just handed in my last assignment today! Woot woot!!

So this afternoon, after a nap, I'm going to brave the snow (yes, again) and cold to take a trip downtown to see the designer Christmas tree exhibit on at the Gardiner Museum. Some neat facts about going to the Gardiner, which I learned yesterday:

• It's open until 9pm on Fridays
• Post-secondary students are FREE on Tuesdays with ID
• 30 years of age and under FREE on Fridays after 4pm with ID (this is why we're going today)
• The museum focuses on ceramics, with Italian Renaissance ceramics (for example) and a research library for ceramic studies
• Chef Jamie Kennedy foodstuffs available at the restaurant, on Fridays from 11am - 9pm.
• There's also an exhibit on The Tsar's Cabinet, which looks intriguing and fascinating. Might try to take a peek at that tonight, too. 

Tomorrow, look for me at the Christmas Market in the Distillery district.

Advent: Day 9

Once again, I missed out on a few days. The first involved a poster presentation of a project with Yahoo Pipes - I think my group did well. Both days were also consumed by a final exam and a reluctant essay.

Last night, to avoid a three-day lapse, I watched Charlie Brown's Christmas. Spent a few years not liking it, but this time I really did - Charlie Brown has a great message about Christmas.




Up Ahead: While living in Italy, I had the opportunity to go to a couple of Christmas markets - one with a German flavor, one more Italian. Toronto's first European Christmas Market is happening now in the Distillery District, and I plan on going this weekend. Maybe more than once. I hope they have mulled wine and silly Christmas-themed trinkets to look at, and maybe buy! Click the links to find out more about what I'll be doing while there.


A video about German Christmas markets from the Toronto Market Website:

CRRS Conference: Rethinking Early Modern Print Culture

Just got home from the second round of a two-day annual conference (the title is in the title of this post, naturally) and of course find a cold apartment and nothing to bake! My strategy of cooking just to warm up my apartment won't work today, I guess.

But to get to the interesting part, I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to go to this conference, because the department that puts it on is actually the Center for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, and no other conference in years past or future will have as much to do with my degree as this one did. An international conference, I briefly chatted with natives of France and Italy, and the keynote speaker works at Oxford. I went to some fascinating (and not-so-fascinating) panels, nodded off through a few of them, but took good notes in most, and helped arrange, clean up and register attendees. Also, I snagged lots of great scones and cookies. Not to mention I got a free book, with another potential one on the way. Depending on how many other volunteers want it.

Some of the topics included the economics of the European book trade in the early modern period, marginal notes in Renaissance texts, and collated volumes of plays by different authors.

I brought my books with me and did some reading today, which turned out to be a popular conversation-starter. Apparently two or three attendees have read the same texts, and freely gave me their opinions on them.

And now, after a very full Friday and Saturday, I have not gotten much reading done, have tons left to do, and am so knackered all I can think about is sleep.

TIFF: Toronto International Film Festival. First Impressions

Well, if I was hoping to provide updates on events and happenings in Toronto, now that I'm here and not in Washington, D.C., I guess I haven't started out very well. It's a good idea, though - from a newcomer's point of view: Toronto.

To start, I arrived in Toronto for the third and last time (still without a semi-permanent residence or mailing address) just days before TIFF began. Lots of hype and celebrities and celebrity-watching... fortunately or unfortunately, I missed the crowds, the red carpet and the celebrities. I guess settling into school and a new city kept me busy enough. Not to mention the spiders.

To get back to the point, I did actually participate in TIFF, though not as fully as I might have hoped (I haven't decided yet, but I think next year if I can I'll be more involved). I went to see one of the shows. Meek's Cutoff was the movie I saw, by director Kelly Reichardt. It was the first I'd ever seen of her work, which is, according to a review I read, very emotionally involved.

Indeed, the plot focused mainly on the characters and the character interactions. Not a critical moviegoer (I like the ones with cars that blow up or have hoop skirts and cravats), I found the pace a little slow to be comfortable. It fit, it was good, but I definitely noticed the time passing.

The ending, well, I liked it. I thought it was fitting. And probably my favorite out of all the alternative endings I've imagined since the end of the film.

The audience was curiously involved - perhaps that's a festival thing? There was a live introduction by a TIFF employee/volunteer, who announced that sadly Kelly was unavailable - she'd had enough of the whirlwind tour of Venice and then Toronto. So no Q&A at the end of the film.

I didn't see a gala or premier event, and I didn't get to participate in a Q&A with the director, so I'm left with the feeling that instead of dipping my toes in the festival experience for an acceptable $20 purchase, I'd merely been to see an outrageously expensive, good film.

There's always next year.