Harpist Kristan Toczko LIVE in Concert

Tonight, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto scheduled a last-minute event, listening to a classical harp concert! Fantastic - it's so long since I listened to classical music. And mercifully, it wasn't on as late as the other recent events! Funnily enough, I was messaged today by someone in the group, who must have seen my name on the list - and I swear he was chatting me up. Based in Toronto as he is, that seems rather optimistic to me. Anyway, he said he'd be at the concert tonight, and I said I'd see him there. Which got me out of what was becoming an interminable conversation..

Ah well, at last, a Meetup I could chat at. Although 36 signed up, only six actually showed to the pre-show chat. (No sign of my admirer - to my relief, as I'd said quite enough to him for at least one day. Didn't really expect him to show anyway, I didn't think it was his thing.) The small number meant I could have a decent chat - and as most hadn't realised I was from Ireland, they were duly fascinated! One had just seen Wild Mountain Thyme, loved it - described it as a real weepie. Now, this is the film that's been panned in Ireland for the accents - don't think I could probably sit through it. But anyway. And I had to keep schtum when someone started railing against the pandemic (non-existent, to her mind), and the vaccines (not to be trusted, to her mind). Some people, you just can't argue with. Mercifully, the show came to save us from argument.

Now, I was at a harp concert before. There were five or so performers, and while it was lovely, it was also just a bit much, harps on their own for so long. Well, delighted to say that tonight's concert was nothing like it! A personable young lady - who apparently also teaches harp and piano - took us through a brief programme: 40 minutes or so in all:

• Debussy/Coeur – Clair de Lune
• J. S. Bach/Grandjany – Violin Partita No. 1: Sarabande
• J. S. Bach/Grandjany – Violin Sonata No. 2: Andante
• Caroline Lizotte – Suite Galactique
• Carlos Salzedo – Tango
• Carlos Salzedo – Rumba

I have to say, I was enchanted throughout - my objections last time must have been caused by the playlist. This time, it was perfect - the Clair de Lune was possibly better than the piano version, the Bach was lovely. The Suite Galactique was a revelation - I don't usually like contemporary classical music, but this was lovely. And the two dances to finish were an inspired choice.

Afterwards, there was an unexpected Q+A on Zoom - I decided to join, and was glad I did. Especially once they switched to gallery view, and we could see her - the option to switch wasn't available in my view. We found out all about the pedals on the harp, and how she's involved in rearranging music for harp - she says, if it was written for piano, it's pretty much easily transmutable. She also transcribes from other musical genres - now, that could be interesting! And she's apparently A Big Thing on TikTok..

A delightful concert, this is part of the Scotia Festival of Music (practicing "scotial" distancing). which runs for another week. And this concert is still available to watch, for free - check out the link at the top. Highly recommended.

Afterwards, I logged back on to the Zoom chat - the organiser had kindly waited, and we chatted for a while, but it seems the rest had logged on earlier, not bothering with the Q+A. Well, very thoughtful of her to think of anyone who had attended, and might be logging on late!

Tomorrow, I have the UK Bank Holiday, and while I've been really lucky with Meetup for the past few days, tomorrow will have to fend for myself, what with so many Meetups now being in-person. So, it's back to the most excellent St. Patrick's Festival website. TV permitting..

Quiz: Famous Quotes in British History & St. Patrick's Festival: In Focus - Jenny Wyse Power (Episode 3 (1922 - 36)) & A Treasury of Irish Voices

Today, it was back to another quiz from Cultureseekers - this one on British quotes. Another Meetup with no chatting for me, but can't be helped. I doubted I'd get many answers right, but the quotes promised to be interesting.

Logged on slightly late - as usual, it was late starting. Babble, babble, babble, and we started at 10 past the official start time, as usual. And hey, I didn't do badly - it would've been a lot harder without the giveaway clues!

That done, it was back to the telly - until I discovered yet another episode of something that I'd already seen. So, back to the trusty St. Patrick's Festival website, still there, months later, and well worth a look.

First, I finished that documentary about Jenny Wyse Power. Curiously, this last episode - 1922-36 - is the most interesting. Set in the period of the Irish Civil War and its aftermath, it describes how Cumann na mBan split, with a new organisation being founded for a new era. This new group, Cumman na Saoirse, quarrelled with the original Cumann.. and after the trials of war were over and the new nation state had been founded, this group came to an end.

She ended up as a senator - but my, what a state she saw created! While paying lip-service to the contributions of women during the years of struggle, the new state - kowtowing to the Catholic Church - did a good impersonation of Gilead! What with the marriage bar, which barred married women from most careers, so they had to stop working when they married - and a general stated belief that a woman's place was in the home - this is anathema to me, so I can only imagine how seasoned revolutionaries would have felt about it..

Afterwards, still lacking decent tv programming, I continued with the website. And am I glad I did - the next one is an absolute gem! A Treasury of Irish Voices is nearly 90 minutes' worth of audio clips, compiled by former radio presenter Brendan Balfe, who's assisted in the presentation by another radio man, Dave Fanning. Mind you, I found that video link didn't work, and had to open it on YouTube. Accompanied by a backdrop of nice Irish photos, this is a little bit long, but you really don't feel the time passing - if you really can't find the time, you can dip in and out.

Ah wow, you wouldn't believe what they have on here! (It's just a shame that some of the clips aren't longer - but there are so many, that would really have run on!) There are audio clips of James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Patrick Kavanagh, W. B. Yeats, Sean O' Casey, and Seamus Heaney - and one of Micheál mac Liammóir quoting Oscar Wilde. There's music, with Luke Kelly singing Raglan Road, and Mary Black singing No Frontiers. There's plenty of comedy - Niall Tóibín kicks the whole thing off with an hilarious explanation of the various Irish accents, but there's also Maureen Potter, Brendan Grace, Frank Kelly, and Rosaleen Linehan. Eamon Morrisey gives his own take on A Pint of Plain Is Your Only Man. Oh, and you shouldn't miss John Wayne's interview about the making of The Quiet Man - perturbed by the unpredictable weather, he asked whether there wasn't a weather prediction service in Ireland. "Oh yes," he was told. "Do you see those green hills over there? Well, if they look like they do now - it's about to rain. If you can't see them - it's raining."

Political moments include De Valera's famous speech on St. Patrick's Day 1943, in which he outlined his vision of Ireland (throws eyes to heaven), and a really moving recording of Gordon Wilson, describing his daughter's last words to him as they lay under the rubble following the Enniskillen bombing. (Oh, and towards the end, there's an extract from an interview that U2 did with Dave Fanning, c. 1984..)

A whistle-stop tour of Ireland, indeed - and I haven't told you the half of it. I only wish I had it to listen to all over again..

Well, tomorrow night, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto scheduled a last-minute event, listening to a classical harp concert! Fantastic - it's so long since I listened to classical music. And mercifully, it's not on as late as the other recent events!

Musical: Newsies

At midnight tonight, I signed on to watch Newsies, a musical based on the true story of a newspaper strike, again with Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto. Available for free on Daily Motion, which is nice!

You can actually watch it anytime - midnight (my time) was just when the group was meeting. Well, some of them - at most, about 10 out of the 78 who'd signed up. Mind you, one person complained that she hadn't been able to get the Zoom link to work. (She should have read the site more carefully - the host explained that if clicking it didn't work, you should copy the address into the address bar. Worked for me - clicking didn't.) Mind you, with not even the host attending, I suspect that wasn't the only reason so few turned up to the chat. Personally, I was ignored so completely that it felt as though I was on mute - couldn't get a word in edgeways, finally did go on mute, turned off my video, and disengaged. Naturally, I didn't bother chatting with them afterwards.

The show itself - is fantastic. The person who took it upon herself to do most of the talking during that chat reminded us that we'd actually heard about this show from Tim, from Broadway Up Close! And although she got his surname wrong, she was right about that, as I duly remembered. He'd said that this had never made it to the UK - he explained how the real-life "newsies" - the newspaper sellers - were children, and they can't use children in stage productions - not large numbers of them, at least. So what they did, in North America, was to source lots of short actors who could sing and dance. According to him, it never made it to the UK because they couldn't find enough of those. Well, that was his story..

Whatever. The writing in this is terrific, the songs are catchy, the dancing is top-notch, the story is uplifting, the leads are cute, there's a love story - what more could you want? It's a great shame it never did make it to the UK. I loved it - it's ages since I saw a musical, and this is an excellent one. Highly recommended!

Except for one thing. Daily Motion, unfortunately, peppers it with ads - more than I've ever seen. I timed them - literally every 5 minutes, we were subjected to the same blasted ad (shown twice, back-to-back) for Disneyworld Paris. Popped up right in the middle of songs, or of dialogue. If anything were guaranteed to make me hate the place.. It was unbearable. I've never before needed an adblocker, but after five runs of this, I'd had enough, and installed Total Adblock. Free - and it works like a dream! I watched the rest in blissful, ad-free peace. Huh. Also recommended.

And tomorrow, it's back to another quiz from Cultureseekers - this one on British quotes. Another Meetup with no chatting for me, but can't be helped. I doubt I'll get many answers right, but the quotes should be interesting.

Virtual Tour: Broadway Bar Crawl

At (ahem) 1am today :-) I treated myself to another virtual tour with Broadway Up Close - this one was the Bar Crawl, and I just couldn't resist, the last one was so good. Hey, nobody calls early meetings on Friday anyway! Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto was organising - and getting a discount, which was nice! As was the fact that I could simply pay by card this time, dealing with the company direct.

Boy, I was still tired after my vaccine, though. But I bravely soldiered on, logging on at the appointed time - didn't contribute to the chat, I was wrecked! Still, I was very glad I signed up - this guy is hilarious, and I was listening for entertainment rather than information on where to visit. He regaled us with histories of Broadway - personal and historical..

..complete with photos. And this almost 90-minute tour abounded with tales..

Seriously, I could hardly stop laughing for most of it! Including at the story of the flop that was Moose Murders, whose first-night review you just have to read. To the extent that, when he told us about the restaurant that serves a free meal to the winner of a local dog show, why, we hardly batted an eyelid..

Highly recommended, and I'll be keeping my eye on any more they advertise.

At midnight tonight, I'll be watching Newsies, a new musical based on the true story of a newspaper strike, with the same group. Available for free, which is even nicer!

And tomorrow, it's back to another quiz from Cultureseekers - this one on British quotes. I doubt I'll get many right, but they should be interesting.

St. Patrick's Festival: In Focus - Jenny Wyse Power (Episode 2: 1914 - 21)

Woohoo, got my first vaccine jab today! Better yet, I could take the day as a "medical appointment", so got the day off work without losing any of my (almost completely intact) holiday allowance! Nice one - and I could do with the break. As it turned out, I have quite a sore arm (though already improving), and am quite tired - so am very glad of the day off. I can recommend the four-day week.

With another gap in programming this afternoon, I ploughed on with the St. Patrick's Festival website.. had that documentary on Jenny Wyse Power to finish. So, today it was Episode 2 (1914 - 21). We'd already learned that she was a businesswoman, with her own small shop in Dublin, a nationalist, and a supporter of women's suffrage. Also a founder member of Cumann na mBan, a nationalist women's organisation.

With war and revolution on the horizon, you might have expected this episode to be rather exciting. But never forget, it's simply a Zoom call among three feminist historians - rather dry, in fact. And no, she didn't grab a gun and go tearing down the road, picking off the enemy as she went - no, more prosaically, someone mentioned that the Cumann was engaged in figuring out how to smuggle food in to the embattled Irish revolutionaries.They also mentioned the tension between members who thought they should be fighting for Irish freedom, and those who thought they should concentrate on suffrage. Well, all if this doesn't make for a very exciting story. No graphics either, apart from summary slides - all very academic. It was handy to drop off to, though, briefly. I will try the final episode at some stage, though.

At (ahem) 1am on Friday :-) I'm treating myself to another virtual tour with Broadway Up Close - this one is the Bar Crawl, and I just couldn't resist, the last one was so good. Hey, nobody calls early meetings on Friday anyway! Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is organising - and getting a discount, which is nice! As is the fact that I can simply pay by card this time, dealing with the company direct. 

And at midnight on Friday, I'll be watching Newsies, a new musical based on the true story of a newspaper strike, with the same group. Available for free, which is nicer!

Eurovision Song Contest 2021

This evening, I watched the Eurovision. Never miss it - of course, I didn't blog about tv before the lockdown, and this is the first Eurovision since then.. so this is my first time talking about it!

Yes, there's a lot of silliness, a lot of nonsense. And it's a bummer that Ireland didn't make it out of the semifinal - as usual. But that's not to take from the sheer fascination of seeing what the 26 countries come up with. And there's always at least one song worth listening to - not that that's necessarily the winner! Most of the acts are about the staging, and true to form this year, there were wacky costumes, armies of dancers, amazing computer effects, and some OTT dramatics. Not to mention the behaviour of performers as they waited for results!

Observation 1: wow, one of the presenters was a lot taller than the others! Anyway, the four of them did a decent job. As for the acts, I'd seen almost all already, having watched both semifinals. But it was good to be reminded - and for the six who automatically qualify (the five main contributors to the budget, plus the host country), I hadn't seen the whole act. Indeed, I started out voting for one country in its semifinal, then changed my mind for the final and voted for one of the automatic qualifiers! Most unusual for me - I usually don't rate them at all. I tend to find the submissions mediocre from countries that, not having to compete to get into the final, take the whole thing less seriously than the others.

In general, that was true of this year, too. Except for two: France and the Netherlands. France, I didn't think much of when I just heard a snippet - but hearing the whole thing, I had to agree that the singer does a good impression of Édith Piaf.. and it's actually a really sweet song! Best offering they've had in years, if you ask me. And the Netherlands' entry impressed me as a very strong number.

Others that stood out for me:

• Cyprus, with a song that is definitely reminiscent of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga - but no, I don't think it's so similar as to be a copy. Anyway, catchy, with a great dance sequence.
• Belgium, with a lovely, moody piece - despite the Irish commentator remarking how depressed they all looked! A nice contrast to all the dance numbers, and well-written - this will outlast most of the others!
• Russia - I loved how she made her entrance, looking kind of like a Russian doll on wheels. And I loved the chorus! Delighted, later, to hear on the news that she's actually one of two performers in the show who are refugees - she's originally from Tajikistan. (The other is the Swedish performer.)
• Greece - always a popular, catchy number, this year's entry has spectacular visuals!
• Germany: not mad about the song - although it is cute - but the presentation is so bad it's good.
• Lithuania, with canary-yellow outfits, and a retro disco track, called - Disco!
• Azerbaijan: again, not mad about the song, but loving the vibe of the Asian-sounding instruments. (Like Russia, they're mostly in Asia - but a little bit of Azerbaijan is considered to be in Europe.)
• Italy. As the presenter warned, just before - Pavarotti it isn't. And he's right, as we get a non-stereotypical rock performance!

Well, with all the performances over, we had over an hour left in the programme - which shouldn't surprise anyone who's familiar with Eurovision voting. See, not only do all the countries' juries get to vote (that's all 39 countries who entered), but they each vote for their top 10 countries. And the fun really kicked off when they let the audience vote as well.. you can call, text, or use the app. I tried voting by app this time, for once - it has the advantage of not needing to remember the act's number, because you just click the button corresponding to the one you want. Turns out it just sends a text, with the number, as required - and a note saying you voted on the app! (Texting, one way or another, is cheaper than calling..)

Well, the bloodsport that is the counting of Eurovision votes finally began. The juries went first - and a pattern soon emerged, with France and Switzerland slugging it out for top place. Can't say I thought much of the Swiss entry myself - I found it a bit nondescript. But then, I don't go for falsetto singing. It was really tense - and fascinating to watch the faces of the performers in the Green Room: the French and Swiss alternately elated and deflated as the lead switched from one to the other, and the perpetual pout on the faces of the Maltese, who were supposed to be favourites, and ended up as also-rans!

But you always have to remember, as all this is going on, that the audience vote is yet to come: and those of us who've seen it before know how dramatically it can change the result. The audience for each country vote in the same way as the jury - for 10 countries, with votes from 1-8, then 10 & 12. The difference is, while we get the jury votes one-by-one (giving each country's presenter a chance to show off their outfit), the audience votes are added together for each country that's been voted for. So, a country whose entry was popular can suddenly, from the audience vote, jump by as many as 468 (if each of the 39 countries awards them 12). And the audience can differ from the juries.. leading to a massive difference from how it first appears. It can look as though the audience vote has more weight, but that's an illusion. How the results are presented also has an effect, as they're given as the total score awarded to each country, starting at the bottom.. but that doesn't necessarily mean that the score gets higher as you go up the board!

And so it proved in tonight's nail-biting climax, as Switzerland suddenly had as much cause as France to look dejected, and Italy made a massive leap - from near the bottom of the table, right to the top! And there they stayed. So, look forward to the Eurovision in Rome next year, perhaps.. which goes to show, I suppose, that European audiences really like rock.

Unfortunately, if a country doesn't rank in the top 10 of any country's audience, they won't get any votes at all. And I'm sorry to say that this year, that happened to the UK. Nul points, as they say. Ah well - I guess they just didn't make any kind of impression. I have to say, they didn't make an impression on me, either.. Well, they can console themselves that they technically beat the 13 countries who didn't make it to the final.. even though that qualification was automatic..

And so, that's that for another year. Tomorrow.. same lack of things I can do online with Meetup - I'll plough on with the St. Patrick's Festival website, if I'm lacking in entertainment.. have that documentary on Jenny Wyse Power to finish.

At (ahem) 1am on Friday :-) I'm treating myself to another virtual tour with Broadway Up Close - this one is the Bar Crawl, and I just couldn't resist, the last one was so good. Hey, nobody calls early meetings on Friday anyway! Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is organising - and getting a discount, which is nice! As is the fact that I can simply pay by card this time, dealing with the company direct. 

And at midnight on Friday, I'll be watching Newsies, a new musical based on the true story of a newspaper strike, with the same group. Available for free, which is nicer!

St. Patrick's Festival: Who Is Mister O' Kelly? & In Focus: Jenny Wyse Power (Part 1)

For today - there was nothing in particular. Well, Cultureseekers had another weekly quiz, but this one was guessing the UK town or city from a photo, which I'd have been hopeless at, so I skipped it. Sure enough, looking at the answers (which the organiser always posts online afterwards), I have never visited most of them, and there's one I never even heard of! The rest of what was happening this afternoon was in person - and there's no heading back to the UK for me yet, not with the Indian variant of Coronavirus making both Irish and UK governments nervous.

But there was a hole in programming, when the only thing worth watching was one I'd already seen. So, back to the excellent St. Patrick's Festival website, and next up was a documentary entitled Who Is Mister O' Kelly? A documentary about a chap by the name of Seumas O' Kelly, a writer from Loughrea, Co. Galway.

Begorrah, a peculiar little film this is! You'd know they're from Galway.. Far from being your standard artistic documentary, this thing bobs and weaves, switches focus.. at one point, the person behind the camera loses interest in the person he's interviewing, in favour of focusing on the conversation taking place to the side, about someone who just ran into an old friend.. another scene has someone discussing old legends.. You know, it's quite enjoyable! Watch, immerse yourself in the natural madness. I blame the radon, myself.

And so, on to a three-part series of video chats among three feminist historians on the subject of Jenny Wyse Power. I'd never heard of her, but she sounds like quite a power-house (no pun intended), a Dublin nationalist, suffragist, and trade union organiser at the turn of the 20th century. This first episode takes her story up to 1913 - Episode 2 (1914 - 21) should be interesting, as things het up with wars and revolutions..

This evening, I'll be watching the Eurovision. Ah, we'd only miss it if it wasn't there - like last year!

POP CULTURE QUIZ ... fun, entertaining trivia about theatre, TV, music, etc.

Midnight tonight, back with Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto for a quiz. We socialised over Zoom, but for the quiz itself, we used Kahoot, for which we were advised to have a separate device - I used my phone. And by the time we were supposed to log in for the chat, I'd already opened the game site. Organised, for once!

Well, people were late joining - indeed, fewer than half of those who'd signed up actually showed up. But as anyone familiar with free events will tell you, that's par for the course. We finally started, slightly late. Now, I'd never used Kahoot before, but she was telling the truth when she said it was easy! She'd set up the quiz there beforehand, and shared her screen with us, where we could see the game PIN that we had to enter. We then had to pick a username, and woo!

Excellent software for a quiz - our usernames appeared on the main screen as we signed in, and for each question (which we got 20 seconds to answer), we had a choice of four answers. When the time was up, we got to see how many had chosen each answer, and which was right - and then a scoreboard of the top five contestants, complete with scores. The faster you answered, the higher the score was - if you were right. The software also tracks how many you've got right in a row, and puts a little flame beside your name if you're on a roll. :-)

I was worried about how I'd do, particularly as this was coming from a Canadian perspective. But I needn't have worried too much - the questions were mainly about musicals, which the organiser has a particular interest in, and I knew a fair few! (Multiple choice always helps, too.) I had one run of four questions - for which the game gave me a nod - and a couple of runs of three.. and the game started to be more fun when, after a slow start, I climbed to fifth place, and made my way on the scoreboard! I actually made it to third at one point, but fifth was where I settled. She'd prepared 50 questions for us, which nicely lasted about an hour, with some chatting in between. All in all, very enjoyable!

She'd set aside time to chat after, but people weren't much in the mood to, and it fizzled out after about 15 minutes. Hey-ho, I wasn't sure about joining - it's been another of those days, and I was tired - but I'm delighted I did. It's ages since I had a midweek Meetup, and it did me a power of good!

For Saturday - nothing in particular, so I'll just spend the evening watching the Eurovision. Ah, we'd only miss it if it wasn't there - like last year!

Film: Eurovision Song Contest - The story of Fire Saga

Appropriately for the week that's in it, the midweek movie - sandwiched between the Eurovision semifinals - was Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as a couple of Nordic Eurovision hopefuls - who between them comprise the band Fire Saga - it was apparently released to coincide with last year's Eurovision. Which, of course, didn't happen, what with the pandemic. Well, it looked funny - just the thing to cheer us up, after we failed, as usual, to qualify for the final.

Turns out Will Ferrell co-wrote it as well. Whether that accounts for all the jokes in bad taste, we'll just have to speculate. But never mind. It certainly attracted a slew of celebs - Pierce Brosnan plays his father, disapproving of the son's lifelong obsession with Eurovision, and Dan Stevens is a fellow contestant, from Russia. But just wait till you start celeb-spotting - loads of Eurovision celebs appear as themselves, primarily at a massive preshow party (you'll definitely recognise some), and Graham Norton turns up to commentate on the whole thing. What's more, they even filmed the stage sequences at the actual Eurovision - the last live one, in 2019!

Aw, I loved it. Daft as the real Eurovision, and filmed on location in Húsavík, Iceland, where they're supposed to be from - it looks gorgeous - it's pretty much a laugh a minute. If your sense of humour extends to the Eurovision, you'll love this. And Will Ferrell films are always feelgood. Excellent tv scheduling, for once..

Midnight tomorrow, back with Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto for a quiz, which I'll probably do terribly at. But hey, it shouldn't run too late for me to get to work, next day..

St. Patrick's Festival - Dance: Mary-Land

Today, a hole in my afternoon that could only be filled by programmes I'd already seen, or those I really didn't want to see, led me back to the St. Patrick's Festival website. And up next was Mary-Land, a contemporary dance piece about the boundaries on women in Irish society. As per the blurb.

It's short. During this short piece, we see a woman wriggling inside her clothes. She then goes out for a walk, during which she dementedly slumps against the wall, hangs off gates, that kind of thing. Until she sees another woman doing the same thing, whereupon she slopes off.

The end.

I dunno, if she was that restless, she should probably have headed out for a run..

Thursday midnight, back with Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto for a quiz, which I'll probably do terribly at. But hey, it shouldn't run too late for me to get to work, next day..

Tour: Broadway Beginnings

At midnight, my time, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto came up trumps again, with Broadway Beginnings, a real-life guided walking tour of Broadway! Complete with some history. Complicated payment mechanism though - we had to sign up, then message the organiser to send us the payment details. Well, I did, and she did. But both alternatives involved Canadian banks.. I tried using my regular international money transfer service, Azimo, but they wanted a routing number - and typically for Canada (as I remember from living there), it was impossible to get the right information online! She ultimately agreed to let me use Paypal..

So, I logged on early, and in due course, there was our host, chattering away.

Oh my goodness, can he talk! A bit exhausting if you're not used to it - but he is hilarious. As it transpired, this isn't a tour where he walks around town, like the Hong Kong one the same group did - nope, he sat in what I suppose is his apartment, and showed us slides. No matter - it was fascinating, and the time flew.

He's full of stories - and gives a few trivia questions throughout, which are very interesting. Weird and wonderful stories about the start of Broadway - and curious facts. Like one I should probably have known, but didn't - the difference between off-Broadway and Broadway productions is.. simply the number of seats! Under 500, it's off-Broadway - doesn't matter where it is, physically. As performers are paid more for Broadway - more than twice as much, according to the rates he quoted us - this really makes a difference.

I particularly liked the story of the "ghost light" - the light that's left on in the theatre when everyone's gone, to prevent spirits from invading the stage:

As well as historical stories, we got plenty about what it's like to be a working performer. And he gave us the link to his tour company, with its details of multiple tours (I think the ghost tour would be mine), both in-person and virtual - and tons and tons of merchandise. No half measures with this operation, and good luck to him - he's excellent, and I hope they're all as good as he is!

Well, there I was, prepared to write about it - and the group organiser sent around an email to rejoin the call, that they were chatting to him! So I rejoined - fewer of us, and we could ask what we liked. After a bit, he went off to walk his dog, and the organiser asked him to leave the call running, that we'd chat - unfortunately, those of us who hadn't unmuted yet realised that we couldn't! He'd muted us all automatically (as on the tour) and had forgotten to unmute us before he dropped off. Ah well. Delighted I went though - highly recommended.

Tomorrow (assuming a gap in programming, as usual), back to the St. Patrick's Festival website, I guess.

And Thursday midnight, back with this group for a quiz, which I'll probably do terribly at. But hey, it shouldn't run too late for me to get to work, next day..

Cultureseekers Quiz - Buildings in London That No Longer Exist! & St. Patrick's Festival - This Is Hard, Cora

This afternoon, another last-minute-advertised quiz by Cultureseekers - this one was Buildings in London That No Longer Exist. I didn't expect to do very well in it, but thought it should be interesting!

What with the cat n all, I was slightly late - but knew the quiz always starts late, and sure enough it did, and I ended up being just in time, 10 minutes late. The usual babble greeted me - I could see a few people I knew, but I don't get involved, what with all the noise. Maybe I will someday, if they start talking about something I'm interested in. See, it's different IRL (in real life) - if you have a large group you don't know, and there's a lot of chatter, you can just gravitate to the edge of the group, and hopefully start up a conversation with someone who's not already talking to someone else. Not possible on a group video chat.

Well, there were plenty I didn't know, and some I did - actually, more than I expected. And it was interesting to see all the old drawings and photos. There was even one building I remember in real life - wow, it was a shame when they demolished Earl's Court Exhibition Centre, which stood right across the road from what was my local Tube station, for two years! And for another year after that, I saw it every time I was returning from Ireland, and had occasion to walk to that station to catch the Overground, while I lived beside Clapham Junction. I mean, I could get the Tube from Earl's Court Station, but if it wasn't due for a while, it was quicker to walk.

So, that was a nice burst of nostalgia, right at the end. Seems like they made a huge mistake in demolishing it - apparently, it's now been lying waste for years, because they don't have the money to develop the site! Not what I'd call progress.

Anyway, plenty did better than I did, as I expected. Interestingly, afterwards one member - new to the group - commented on the site on how disappointed she was with this, her first Meetup with the group. She didn't know anyone, couldn't chip in with all the noise, and couldn't even figure out who was hosting. Nor when the quiz was starting - there was no indication, and I think she quit before it did. She pointed out that another group she's in makes members raise their hand before speaking, on a video call. Plenty of replies to that - by members; the host didn't bother.

After I logged off, nothing on telly - that I hadn't seen anyway. So, I returned to the excellent St. Patrick's Festival website, still there, still free. Today's offering was a short film - This Is Hard, Cora, which is a delightful little ode to the area around Mountjoy Square in Dublin, from one who lives there. With a particular focus on his adorable little Yorkie, Cora, who's developed a passion for the neighbour in the flat upstairs. Absolutely gorgeous! Animal lovers will love this.

At midnight, my time - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is coming up trumps again, with Broadway Beginnings, a real-life guided walking tour of Broadway! Complete with some history, and a couple of ghost stories, I believe. Well, I was there years ago - it'll be lovely to see it again. Complicated payment mechanism though - we had to sign up, then message the organiser to send us the payment details. Well, I did, and she did. But both alternatives involved Canadian banks.. I tried using my regular international money transfer service, Azimo, but they wanted a routing number - and typically for Canada (as I remember from living there), it was impossible to get the right information online! She ultimately agreed to let me use Paypal.. And hey, I know I'll be allowed to speak at this one!

Film: Patriots Day

So - tonight's film on telly was one I'd never gotten around to seeing. Patriots Day, about the Boston Marathon bombing, stars Mark Wahlberg and J. K. Simmons as Boston cops, John Goodman as the police commissioner, Michelle Monaghan as Mark's wife, and Kevin Bacon as the FBI guy. And I decided to give it a shot, as the best thing on, at the time.

Very glad I did. It's cleverly made, and a pleasure to watch. Plenty of exposition at the start proves its worth later on, as seemingly unconnected characters all crop up later in the story, having bad things happen to them - and now that we've gotten to know them a bit, it makes their stories all the more poignant. We even get to know and love the cops - and, in these times when US police make the news for all the wrong reasons, it's lovely to think that there might be a part of the States where they care about the community, and are part of it.

So, the bombings take on a human angle. Not that we miss out on the fast-paced action, but we also get plenty of shots of teary police officers, tending to the victims, and respectfully hanging back rather than intrude in the aftermath, as the families get involved. And once the FBI arrive, and decide it's a terrorist incident - cue a massive manhunt. The two young brothers who committed the bombings are far from being experts at this, and make mistake after mistake - doesn't mean the job of tracking them down is easy though, and it's fascinating to see the effort that goes into it. And once they start to close in, and the brothers try to flee - wow, what an action sequence!

The happy patriotism of the tv commentators' narration of the early part of the race is echoed in a firmly patriotic determination, at the end of the film, to carry on. And it's touching, at the end, to see the real-life characters who were portrayed in the film being interviewed. "Boston Strong" is the slogan - and the film as a whole is a great advert for the city. Very enjoyable, and ultimately a feelgood movie. Go see, if you get the chance.

Tomorrow afternoon, another last-minute-advertised quiz by Cultureseekers - this one is Buildings in London That No Longer Exist. I don't expect to do very well in it, but it should be interesting!

And at midnight, my time - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is coming up trumps again, with Broadway Beginnings, a real-life guided walking tour of Broadway! Complete with some history, and a couple of ghost stories, I believe. Well, I was there years ago - it'll be lovely to see it again. Complicated payment mechanism though - we had to sign up, then message the organiser to send us the payment details. Well, I did, and she did. But both alternatives involved Canadian banks.. I tried using my regular international money transfer service, Azimo, but they wanted a routing number - and typically for Canada (as I remember from living there), it was impossible to get the right information online! She ultimately agreed to let me use Paypal..

St. Patrick's Festival: Film - Ex

Sadly, there's a profusion of real-life walks that I can't go to, and everything else on Meetup running in the evening, which I can't make either - so it was back to the St. Patrick's Festival website today.

And what a curious piece I came across in Ex. A short film made on the shore, in the dark - floodlit in red, the backdrop in black or the rich blue of twilight - it's visually arresting. A man cavorts. In the nip, in parts, which is what leads to the warnings and age restriction - you can't watch it on the website itself, but have to click through to the YouTube feed.

With a soundtrack of discordant music, it has the look and feel of a horror film. Over 10 minutes or so, you get a real sense of intense - angst. Much like contemporary dance, or abstract art, it's hard to pin down a meaning - I got more of a feeling from it than any easy description. I liked it. But then, I am a horror fan!

And on Saturday - Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto is coming up trumps again, with Broadway Beginnings, a real-life guided walking tour of Broadway! Complete with some history, and a couple of ghost stories, I believe. Well, I was there years ago - it'll be lovely to see it again. Complicated payment mechanism though - we have to sign up, then message the organiser to send us the payment details. Well, I have done - we shall see!

Cultureseekers History & Culture Quiz - English Sayings

Well, Cultureseekers did it again, with a late-advertised quiz. This one sounded interesting - English sayings sounded like something I could manage, so I signed up.

What with getting up late, and placating Puss, I was a little late starting - but they always are, too. The chaotic banter - and someone's radio in the background - were finally muted, and we began about 10 minutes late. Turned out to be a game of two halves - well, 3/5 & 2/5. The first 3/5 were pictures, representing popular phrases that we had to guess - à la Catchphrase! Why, the first cartoon even featured Mr. Chips..

Mainly, I sailed through them - and, as he said we would, I did kick myself when the correct answer was given to ones I hadn't figured out. Like "Hold Your Horses":

                                                  

Kudos to him for another well-thought-out and well-executed quiz! But I don't envy him having to deal with the public - took me right back to my teaching days when someone asked him could he "repeat the question". For goodness' sake - just look at the cartoon, you don't need the question! Nowt queer as folk..

The second 2/5 of the quiz was equally interesting - given a popular phrase, we had to guess its origins. There were only a couple of these I didn't guess - one new to me was the origin of the phrase "raining cats and dogs". Did you know that this derives from mediaeval times, when people had thatched roofs, which would attract mice and insects - so cats tended to hang around up there, dogs followed the cats - and when it started to rain, the thatch got slippery, and they all came tumbling down! Well, I never..

Sadly, there's a profusion of real-life walks that I can't go to, and everything else on Meetup running in the evening, which I can't make either - so it's back to the St. Patrick's Festival website tomorrow, I guess..

Film: The Delinquent Season

Well, today's tv schedule kept me occupied enough that I didn't try anything else. Tonight, I was looking forward to the Bank Holiday Movie - The Delinquent Season stars Cillian Murphy and the delectable Andrew Scott as Dublin friends, both married - and wouldn't you know it, Cillian goes and sleeps with Andrew's wife. Tsk. Well, I'd watch Andrew Scott staring at a wall, so I suspected I'd enjoy this..

Sadly, Andrew wasn't used nearly enough for my liking. This is really Cillian's story, as he ducks and weaves through various unexpected events, yes, sleeping with Andrew's wife along the way. Poor Andrew mainly plays a rather sad role. The moral of the story - if there is one - is that you can never depend on people to stay the same, on relationships to stay the same. Really, you never know what's going to happen next in this story. So, engaging enough - except that I got very irritated with Cillian's character. Too passive for my taste. Ah well.

And so, after another week of work getting in the way, it's back to the St. Patrick's Festival website on Saturday, I guess..

St. Patrick's Festival: Poetry - Beautiful Young People with Axis Ballymun

Another lull in tv programming tonight, so I checked out the St. Patrick's Festival website again - yes, it's still there! Next up was Beautiful Young People, a collection of six short poems (one actually a song), with an accompanying backdrop of illustrations, and complete with musical tracks, and an ISL interpreter in the corner, with a GSOH!

These are voiced by young people, in association with Axis, an arts group in Ballymun. A helpful menu at the side describes what's on the video - under 15 minutes in all. First up is a nice little piece by Pat Ingoldsby, again. Next is a little flight of fantasy - followed by a poem called Laundry, which - predictably - recalls the Magdalene Laundries. Fourth is one by Zozimus, famous poet of old. The fifth - by Nuala ní Dhomnhnaill, whom I remember coming to our school as part of a Poets Live initiative, when I was in a senior year there - is Dubh ("Black"). All in Irish, it's about the Srebenica Massacre.. the link I've provided gives the text, which you can get translated. (The interpreter obviously isn't trilingual, as she cried off this one.) And to finish, a pleasant little ditty - by Zozimus, again - entitled St. Patrick was a Gentleman.

Really enjoyable! Highly recommended - frankly, best thing I've watched this weekend, so far. Will be happy to check out that website again tomorrow, if I'm at a loose end.

And tomorrow night, looking forward to the Bank Holiday Movie - The Delinquent Season stars Cillian Murphy and the delectable Andrew Scott as Dublin friends, both married - and wouldn't you know it, Cillian goes and sleeps with Andrew's wife. Tsk. Well, I'd watch Andrew Scott staring at a wall, so I suspect I'll enjoy this..

Musical: Our House

 A while ago, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto were watching Our House - a musical based on the music of the band Madness. So, with a lull in tv programming today, I caught up with that..

I like Madness. Was never a huge fan, but like everyone else, got interested in their music videos in the 80s. Their madcap antics in those, however, disguise some very deep themes in the songs - which are as catchy as ever, and a delight to listen to in this musical. It's a rather sweet story of a boy, trying to make his way through life.. at the pivotal age of 16, his story splits into two parallel lives; in both, he's the same person, in love with the same girl, but his experiences are different, and lead to very different outcomes in each. Kudos to him for the rapid costume changes.. Either way, a feelgood way to spend a couple of hours. Recommended for fans of the music, or of musicals. And free!

Well, it's a bank holiday tomorrow. Sadly, no chance of me getting back to Blighty just yet. Anyway, I guess I'll check out the St. Patrick's Festival website again - yes, it's still there! And tomorrow night, looking forward to the Bank Holiday Movie - The Delinquent Season stars Cillian Murphy and the delectable Andrew Scott as Dublin friends, both married - and wouldn't you know it, Cillian goes and sleeps with Andrew's wife. Tsk. Well, I'd watch Andrew Scott staring at a wall, so I suspect I'll enjoy this..

Hong Kong.. Old Town Virtual Walking Tour, English-Speaking Guide $20 & Cultureseekers History & Culture Quiz - London Odd One Out!

Last night / this morning, Thumbs Up Theatre Toronto (TUTT) hosted a virtual walking tour of the old town of Hong Kong! To be clear, this was a real-life walking tour, live, in English, with a local guide.. cool! 3am my time, but what the hey.. A part of the world I've never been in, and I was delighted to visit virtually! Lockdown is good for some things.. and kudos to the group for reaching out to faraway places for ideas!

As they say, if you can get over the initial wave of tiredness, you get a second wind, and can stay up that bit later. The second wind hit me about 2am - I'm well used to it. Doing something else, I ended up logging on just in time, to see our masked guide - masks are compulsory, outdoors there. A bubbly young lady, it turned out her parents emigrated to Australia, where she grew up, moving back to Hong Kong later. She encouraged us to ask questions if we felt like it - or we could type in the chat. She was also delighted with the people that chose to turn on their cameras.. didn't include me..

She started the tour stood beside the escalator, the longest in the world apparently, which connects the middle levels of town and the lower levels. As she explained, it travels in one direction only - down in the morning rush hour, so people can head down to work, up from 10am to midnight. The staircase beside it allows for travel in the opposite direction. And she lives at one end - but she didn't show us her house!

So, we saw some street food vendors. She warned us that a lot of businesses were closed, today being the 1 May, the international workers' holiday. Mind you, for all that she kept telling us how expensive food is there, the prices didn't sound unusual to the people on the call, most of whom are from Toronto. Nor, indeed, to me. I'd have trouble eating there though, with all the menus in Chinese..

It's just as well she showed us the correct way to sit at the tea stall (picture taken pre-Covid). Oh, and the thing to ask for is "Hong Kong Silk Stocking Milk Tea" - made with three different kinds of tea leaves, milk in first, and filtered through something that looks like a silk stocking:

She took us to a wet market - but explained that not much killing of animals goes on there, since Covid. And, moving up in the world, she showed us a filming location:

Finally, beside the colonial courthouse, an interesting sight - QR codes around town alert authorities to who's been where, and when - so, if there's a Covid occurrence, they can track people who've been in the vicinity. Now, that's how you handle a pandemic:

Well, that was Hong Kong. No sign of demonstrators. I don't think I'd be that pushed about visiting in person - I'm well familiar with crowded city streets, that's not that exotic to me. But I'm delighted to have been given a window to it! and the walk was well-organised - during the bits where our guide was walking between locations, someone back at the office was telling us snippets of a 19th-century love story - a Western captain, dealing in opium, took a fancy to a young lady from the area.. in a Capitalist twist, the upshot was that he left her a great chunk of Hong Kong as her personal property! Nice..

And so, straight to sleep - Cultureseekers, a couple of days ago, advertised another quiz, which I had to be up for, and get breakfast sorted in the meantime! This was an odd one out quiz, based in London - pick the picture that doesn't connect with the others. And I have to say, it was well-organised - some debate, of course, about whether you could have got a different answer. But I didn't do too badly - got most of them right.

For tomorrow - well, a while ago, TUTT were watching Our House - a musical about the band Madness. So, I could catch up with that..