G. is upstairs, trying to sort out the house now that the painters have left... while I'm in the basement office, supposedly studying for the next ITIL V3 exam in the series. Randy, the painter, and his assistant really did do a lovely job; Top Notch Painters in Edmonton, if you ever need someone. They did finish, finally, on Thursday... the wallpaper removal caused them huge problems which delayed them by a full day. Now G. is putting back the switchplates and rehanging some pictures. Why this evening? Well, Thursday night was at the theatre, Friday night was at dinner with friends, Saturday was spent buying stuff, including a very chic storage unit for the kitchen nook from IKEA, followed by me trying to quietly assemble it while G. napped, and today was spent at the Citadel, again, this time watching Marty Chan's The Forbidden Phoenix.

This incarnation of The Forbidden Phoenix is really quite good, and should be seen... the story itself has matured some since Ben Henderson and Running With Scissors Theatre first worked with Mr. Chan on it, a few years ago. It has become more comfortable in the wrapper of traditional Chinese opera in its music and lyrical content, but has traded in a bit of the theatrical tricks and magic that does help to define Chinese opera... Robert Walsh, as musical director, has done some really nice things to support Ron Jenkin's direction in the way he has handled the 'westernization' of the Chinese operatic musical form. And John Ullyatt as the Monkey King was very good... I must say, and G. was quite annoyed that I threatened to say it out loud, that during one of his first moments on stage, and at various other places throughout, Mr. Ullyatt reminded me of a young Bob Hope in some of his 'Road' movies. There are mannerisms, affectations, little quirks to his performance that immediately made me think of Hope...

I have to admit that I missed some of the 'subtleties' that were woven into the story, regarding the move to the industrialized west (read 'Canada and the building of the railroad'), the growing Maoist influences in the China that the Monkey King left behind. I suppose that if Leslie Frankish, the set and costume designer, had sacrificed some of those elegantly clean lines, she might have been able to beat us over the head with the symbolism. Thank goodness, she doesn't. Well, she does... in the rendering of the Iron Dragon... and then it all tumbles into place.

And I would have liked to see what she would have come up with if she were told that the waterfall/river and the journey were her challenge, and not the lighting designer's. She does so well with fabic... I sure that she could make something pretty special out of the traditional Chinese opera forms for water and movement...

It is my understanding that this show will eventually move to the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, in the early spring of 2009. Take a kid to see it...

By the way, Marty and The Edmonton Journal serialized the story... http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/nie/serialstory_pdfs/00370995%20week3.pdf

Hopefully the link will work so you can pull it up to read...

Hey! I pushed through yet another barrier last night; I attended a show at the Citadel for the first time in 11 years… and I managed to fly in under the radar. Now, I’m not entirely sure that this is a good thing… only one person in the place who wasn’t expecting me to be there actually recognized me. There were a fair number of the crew that I used to work with on hand, plus board members, with artists and folks from other arts organizations… and I managed to move through them undetected. My shyness over rode and took control of the situation; I did not try to make myself known. It should be noted that I did agree to go to the reception afterwards. Until last night, I really had no idea how much my physical appearance has changed… and not just in the last year. I also mean in the last 10 years. This was an opening night with a full house; the attendance at the post show reception was significantly under attended. This was something I found very surprising… until we discovered that the Citadel management has recently changed policy and charge for drinks at the reception. The finger food is still free, and seems to be quite good (not that I had any!), but they no longer provide that free glass of questionable quality wine post performance. Why would anyone pay the premium to attend opening night, now? As a cost cutting measure, I question its validity. As a way to address the liability question (serving drinks without any sort of restriction and therefore, as the host, being culpable for audience drunkenness), well, okay, I’ll accept that. I’d be curious to know what the reason for the change is.

The show we were treated to was Ronnie Burkett’s new piece, ‘Billy Twinkle; Requiem for a Golden Boy’.

It will get better. Won’t it?

I was disappointed. Last evening’s performance was not his best work. The script doesn’t live up to Ronnie’s previous works, although the storyline and the concept seem solid enough. His work with the hand puppet (vs. his masterful manipulation of the marionettes) leaves a great deal to be desired. And his voices… the range, the tonal quality, the timbre all seemed too close to each other, with sporadic, unsustained exceptions. There was a frenetic quality to the interactions with the hand puppet that just didn’t feel right… a great deal of the significance of the language and the interaction was lost. I’m sure that now that opening night is over, he will slow it down, find the best pacing for those very intense scenes, and settle into his normal, seemingly casual rhythms of presentation. We saw a glimpse of that usual Ronnie when he missed a prop clearance, and wove the error back into his banter… now that was some of the Burkett magic that I was looking for.

From a scripting point of view, there are some things that need rewriting… which I’m sure he’ll find as he goes along. There are a lot of sexuality references which advance the story; there are too many overtly sexual references which don’t. He either needs more of the puppet show-within-the-puppet show (he does a brilliant stripper, a drunken socialite, a moment with a bear on roller-skates and a bitter-sweet bit with an old man and balloon) or he needs less. The Juliet needs more work… it seems confused, unfocused, and the presentation, the delivery of Shakespeare’s language was totally inadequate for that moment, and those rants at the beginning of the piece... which brings me to my final point. Ronnie Burkett is an exceptional puppeteer, and a wonderful raconteur, which, when put together with a well deployed script, make for an astonishing evening of theatre. Unfortunately, Ronnie Burkett is not an actor.

Well, its been over a week since last I posted anything here, and a lot has happened. An interesting election result, a very ugly financial picture emerging, the price of oil sliding dramatically, the looney taking a beating...

I strongly suspect that everything else that has happened/is happening in my little world is pretty trivial stuff to anyone but me.

My mother and father, younger sister and younger brother all made it to St. Albert for Thanksgiving... did I mention that? It made for a really warm and fuzzy weekend.

Mom brought her copy of a 'slow cooker' cookbook. We had purchased a really nice crock pot just before they got here, so it was very timely... We tried out a recipe this past Sunday with what should have been a nice sirloin tip roast, however, it just didn't work. Its seems that what we've heard is true; the poorer the cut of meat, the better the result in a slow cooker. The roast we did was very tasty, but dry and overcooked... the vegetables (baby potatoes, carrots, onions) were nearly perfect. Oh well, live and learn... I'll try again this weekend.

While the meat was being murdered, I spent most of the day in the garage. I found a great system to hoist and store our bicycles at Mountain Equipment Co-op. It was fairly easy to install. It would have been really easy if my shoulder were a bit more cooperative... but it works, and works well. And with the bicycles up out of the way, I managed to fit the motorcycle in, with the jeep and G.'s convertible. Does that mean that the motorcycle is 'put away' for the winter? Well, I suppose so... although I should probably change the oil...

And we spent the rest of the day finishing what we started on Saturday; moving furniture, removing pictures, and generally creating havoc in the townhouse.

We're finally getting a start on getting the townhouse updated. To that end, we have contracted a painting company to give a fresh coat of paint to most of the place, excluding the living/dining room, the big bathroom and the basement. We got a fabulous price quote; a quote, mind you and not an estimate subject to escalation! And they started yesterday! Whoo hoo! This is great! They have run into one snag, however, and that's the removal of the wallpaper in the kitchen/breakfast nook area. It just will NOT come off! They're back today, and I suspect that they'll be in tomorrow as well...

This morning I lept out of bed at 5:30 am (lept? Ya, right...) to make it to a fundraising breakfast event for the Kid's Kottage way out in Sherwood Park that started at 7:00 am. Premiere Ed Stelmach spoke, and did so quite eloquently... and with a nice sense of humour. Danny Hooper MC'd... darn, but he's a funny guy. And Dr. Bob Westbury was there, but, even after G.'s time spent with him yesterday, part of which was spent briefing him on my little challenges over the last year, he didn't recognize me. I didn't push it... just let it go. We'll probably see him on Thursday evening...

The Deloitte table was hosted by partner Ken Sklar, with Dalibor and Dejan (the Brothers-in-law Karamozov), and Ms. Mucha representing the rest of Deloitte. We were hosting the provincial Minister of the Environment, Rob Renner, and another MLA who I didn't recognize, nor did I catch her name. (Unfortunately, I suspect that this was more due to my hearing than the noise in the room... I felt a bit uncomfortable at various points during the event because the ambient noise seemed to really get in the way.) I sat beside the CIO for the ministry of Employment and Immigration, and across from the CIO for Finance.

You know, these things are touted as great opportunities for networking, but they're not really working for me at this point. Sure, the right folks at the GoA are getting to know my face, and who I am on the Deloitte team, but I just can't seem to sustain a decent level of conversation right now... the hearing issue is really plaguing me in noisy environments. Maybe I will have to get those damned hearing aids just for those events. In terms of frequencies, and subtleties, I can hear quite well now, and it seems to be getting better... except in these sorts of circumstances. Damn.

Tonight is an itSMF dinner at the Royal Glenora Club... and its starting to look like I get to be the MC 'cause the Prez can't make it. That just makes it tougher to sneak out earlier if the speaker is a dud.

Wednesday evening, we get to put all the furniture back that had to be moved for the painters.

Thursday evening we're slated to be at the opening of Ronnie Burkett's new piece, 'Billy Twinkle' at The Citadel's Maclab Theatre.

Sunday afternoon, we're going to catch 'The Forbidden Phoenix' at The Citadel's Shoctor.

Busy, busy, busy...

Voting Day in Canada

Go VOTE. No excuses. VOTE. I don't care who you vote for (which is not entirely true, but...) so long as you exercise your right to VOTE.

I voted. Have you?

Dentists and Financial Meltdown

Yesterday afternoon I braved the dentist's chair for the first time in over a year. My dentist is Dr. David Scott, a professor at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Dentistry, who has a small private practice that he is encouraged to run out of the Faculty. He is also an old family friend, having been one of G.'s first employers (as a nanny, I think) when she first came to Canada... I've never been really clear on the history there... but he has looked after me for over twenty years.

The hygienist, Cheryl, was complaining that now that she's hit 50, her sight is failing. The receptionist, Pat, was whining about 'the change'. Both were quite astounded at how good I look. They've seen some really ugly stuff come through the doors there; I am not one of the ugly ones. Woohoo!

Apparently my teeth are in good shape, with the exception of a broken/cracked filling that is probably the byproduct of the cancer surgery rather than my eating habits of late. My gums are in good shape, with only one area of concern to the hygienist. And that concern is minimal. David and company did warn me that I must continue to rinse my mouth regularly, because of the diminished saliva production. David phoned a periodontist friend while I was there and asked him about the salagen/pilocarpine which I mentioned in a previous post. Because I have asked my surgeon to look into it, David won't write the prescription, but the periodontist friend advised asking the pharmacist for artificial saliva, and Prevident (I hope I got that right... I left the note on my dresser). And Cheryl, the hygienist, suggested that I start using something like Plax twice a day, carry a Sulcabrush with me, and gave me new Sulcabrush heads with the obligatory toothbrush

They are such nice people!

Now, on to the Financial Meltdown;

I'm really not sure what the hell the politicians are up to with regards to the stock market meltdowns! All we're really getting is baffle gab from all of them! Harper sounds like he's on a double dose of anti-depressants (he almost giggled at one point!), and the other two majors are alternating between the good 'ol Uncle with the well-if-I-had-my-way speech and the slightly frenetic why-doesn't-someone-do-something lament.

My take on the subject is really quite simple: the majority of pension/rrsp money is tied up in mutual funds which is under the control of fund managers, or the mythical 'institutional investor'. Their job is to manage those funds. They get paid for doing it. They get bonused for doing it well. They get promoted for doing it really well (although somewhere in that part of the equation the Peter Principle does play a role). If your pension/rrsp has been doing reasonably well until these past couple of weeks, just try to relax... the players (fund managers) are just as concerned as you and will work hard to bring the value of your investment back up as fast as they can, according to the mandate of the fund (aggressive vs. conservative). Now, you may (which translates to "I may", dammit!) have to shift that retirement window by a couple of years, and it may be chromed rather than gold leaf, but you will be able to retire comfortably.

I heard on a panel discussion this morning that a number of the institutional investors had already started to shift the composition of their funds before this mess started because of the indicators in the market that something was about to happen. Some of the players have 40 to 55% of the funds they manage in cash or cash-equivalent instruments (bonds, T-bills, debentures, piggy banks). This should give them a head start in building back the funds as the market begins its recovery.

All is not lost.

And from a completely selfish point of view, I'm kinda hoping that a short term 'fraidy cat tightening of spending will free up a couple of windows of opportunity to get our kitchen renovated!!!

Monday

And just for the record, I did ride my motorcycle to work this morning... I dressed well for the cool +4 degrees with a fleece jacket under my insulated leather jacket and a decent scarf. The chaps make a huge difference cutting the wind, and so far I've not needed anything extra on my legs. The real challenge is proving to be the gloves. I changed out to a pair of winter leather gloves which have served me quite well for the past couple of years, but my fingertips got a bit tingly on the ride in this morning. Hmmmm... I may have to go to the motorcycle shop to see if they've got something a bit better for this application.

I figure that I'm good until Thanksgiving, if I can sort out the gloves.

I finally got wound up enough again to call my surgeon's office to protest about the hearing doctor's refusal to call me in to speak to me. Diane, assistant to Dr. Williams, listened politely, assured me that she understood my position, but warned me that I still probably wouldn't get an appointment... its got a lot to do with the nature of delivering specialty medical services in Canada these days. But she did dutifully call them, and a) explain my position, and b) ask for the recommendation for hearing aids to be written out as a prescription. Unfortunately, it was a 'no' on both counts... with the specialist's office assuring Diane that they use the place that did the testing a lot, and are quite comfortable with them, often using them to help with clinics, and are pretty sure that the pricing is fair.

I also asked Diane to speak to Dr. Williams about something called 'salagen', which is also known as pilocarpine. Apparently its used to stimulate the production of saliva in persons suffering from one or two of the incarnations of 'dry mouth syndrome'. I'll just have to wait to hear what the good doctor has to say about it...

I only felt the need for hearing assist once this week. I'm going to keep track for a month, and then decide what to do...

I'm still not gaining weight. I'm definitely going to have to 'up' the volume of calorie supplements as well as keep eating the amount that I have been. It was suggested on the weekend that, where I would normally have a glass of milk, I should substitute an Ensure (or a Boost). Not a bad strategy, but... well, just 'but'. As part of the conversation that resulted in this little cheat, it was pointed out that there are research pointers out there that say that, eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia notwithstanding, putting on weight can be as challenging as trying to lose weight. Hell, I don't remember having trouble gaining that fifty pounds I lost to the chemo, so why can't I gain it back? Probably 'cause I originally gained it over a period of twenty years... and given my history when I was very much younger, maybe we should at least give it a year to put fifteen pounds back on before anybody panics.

My shoulder is loosening up nicely; I'm wondering if Tai Chi wouldn't be another avenue to investigate? I used to do some... its probably time I went back to it.

I'm sure that everyone is getting tired of the propaganda surrounding the election, but let me just say, one more time: Anybody But Harper. Are you disciplined enough to look into strategic voting? Now having said that, I was told that the gentleman running for the Liberals in my riding spoke to the Rotary Club the other morning, and was absolutely dreadful... ill-prepared, somewhat ill-informed, bordering on incoherent and generally a bit of an embarrassment. To be fair, the person who brought this performance to my attention is almost as critical as I am, working with maybe a few more shades of grey in their pallette than I tend to, but not many more. Next election, maybe I'll run! I couldn't possibly do any worse than the current nominee is going to...