Numeracy and literacy...together

As I said in a previous post, I tasked my students to write a reflection on their course readings in the form of The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown.
The idea of this assignment came about because I regularly bring children's literature into my class. I will always have a table set up for my students to browse, with different books that implicitly (some examples here) or explicitly (some examples here) have connections to math. I will try to use some books in my lessons to that my student can see just how they can be used. And of course, I use them because I believe in them and I see that my students enjoy it when I do use them. Anyway, it had been awhile since I really used a book in my lesson, and I wasn't entirely sure if my students were taking advantage of the books I lugged to class each day for them to browse through. I knew that on this particular day, I'd only have 10 minutes to teach and in this time, I wouldn't be able to get to any mathematical content to the level that I would be satisfied with. But, I did want to remind them of the power of children's literature, the importance of bringing literacy into the math classroom (or vice versa) and I needed to find out what kind of content they had gleaned from the readings from that week.
You can tell I love to teach because I'll just come up with ideas, seemingly out of thin air. I just love teaching so much, that I will start day dreaming about different activities that I would like to try out in my classes.
Anyway, so that was the task and I just had to share a few of them...

***************

The important thing about math is supporting individual differences.
You need to recognize and know your students.
You need to provide them with tangible ways of learning abstract concepts.
Manipulatives, examples, and different learning centres are just one step.
Calculations, problem solving, or memorization can be daunting.
How will you eliminate math fears and anxiety?
It all starts with differentiated instruction and meeting all students’ needs.
You will start to build a community, and a place where everyone can learn.
You need to focus on the small ideas that build the bigger concepts.
Know your students, know their learning styles, and get creative.
No matter what you’re teaching, think of every single individual in your class.
But the important thing about math is supporting individual differences.

***************

The important thing about math anxiety is that we as teachers can diminish it
Math anxiety stems from an emphasis on black and white answers
Math anxiety stems from an emphasis on speed
Math anxiety stems from an emphasis on students' public display of ability
Math anxiety stems from a lack of confidence
Math anxiety stems from a belief: you are either born able to do math or not
Math anxiety stems from a perceived innate inability to do math
But the important thing about math anxiety is that we as teachers can diminish it

***************

The most important thing about math is that it is fun.
Most students tend to find mathematics boring.
But it can be so much more if teachers want it to be.
You can bring math into the food you eat
You can bring math into your daily exercise.
You can bring math into the music you make.
You can make math into a game to play
Math is a subject that can be used all day
And when students leave school and all is said and done
The most important thing about math is that it is fun.

***************

The most important thing about integers is that zero is not the lowest number
Integers are only introduced in intermediate years, before they slumber
Students understand integers, as they are common in our world
Like seeing a credit account, where their finances have swirled
Like playing a round of golf, where one can end above or below par
Like noticing water to be above or below sea level, they may see from their car
You see, it’s the “Zero Principle” that dictates integer rules
It’s where you can add or subtract, multiply and divided as long as you follow key tools
Any number can be added to its opposite to result in a value of zero
By following this, you’ll become a mathematics hero
Integers may be hard at first, but following one rule, you won’t cumber
But the most important thing about integers is that zero is not the lowest number


***************

The most important thing about us is
that we perceive the world in different ways.
Some see expanding brackets through a haze,
and shiver at the mention of a quiz,
while others were at birth a numbers whiz----
at least their parents don't mind all that praise.
But they forget the old familiar phrase:
how key that 99-to-1 thing is.

When you put work into a task, and feel
a sense of great accomplishment well up,
the inspiration to discover more
will grow quite naturally. No need to be
innately "gifted." Some may quibble, but
the most important thing is: your way's yours.

***************

New year, new template!

I wasn't organized enough to wear new clothes today, but I do have a new template for the blog. I might tweak it a bit, but we'll give it a go. The former template served me well. I like it. But I suppose everything needs an update every so often (ahem, bio on the sidebar...)

Like a proud parent

Remember when I started this blog and posted about the wonderful things my students did? I haven't done that in awhile, have I?
My role has shifted since that time but I still get a chance to be oh-so-impressed by what my students do.
This past week, I got them to write reflections on their readings a la The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown and they are pretty fantastic.
I wonder if this is the kind of feeling that parents get when their children do great things. Except that some of my "children" may be older than I am.

I mean, really.

Is it ridiculous that on a day that was stormy and cold, I saw two girls with attired such that one was wearing 5-inch pumps, bare legs, a mini skirt so short and tight that she had to keep pulling it down so that she could climb the stairs without something going terribly wrong and a Canadian Goose bomber-style parka and the other was wearing 5-inch ankle booties, bare legs and skirt/shorts/dress/anything that was so short that I don't even know what she was wearing because I couldn't see it peeking out from under her mid-thigh length wool coat? YES.

Is it truly that I'm terribly judgmental? Also, a resounding YES.

Learning about socks

I need help in the fashion department.
Socks.
Colour. Style. Pattern. Texture.
I'm clueless.
And ladies fashion magazines don't help. Realistically, I can't wear tights or boots every day, so some days I will be traipsing about in footwear where my socks will be visible. And I don't know how to 'make it work'. And of course, we're just talking the times before/after I'm able to switch into footwear that doesn't need socks at all. There are certain days wear I am not able to make the switch at all. And I do need to invest in some additional non-boot footwear where my socks won't be visible, but don't get me started about how difficult it is for me to find a pair of shoes that I am willing to purchase. Knowing me, I'm over thinking this to the max, but the bottom line is that I need to know what kind of socks to wear when I'm wearing footwear in which my socks are visible.
Gentlemen, you are my inspiration. As much as I like a flowy skirt and getting glammed up in a dress, I also subscribe to androgynous fashion. And as I said, I don't think women really know what they're doing when it comes to my dilemma so I have to turn to the boys for this one. Pitti Uomo just finished up last week and it never lets me down. The pictures that I've seen are amazing. The spotlight is now on Milan, so there's more for me to learn from there.
Honestly, I think my bigger dilemma is that the style that I would love to subscribe to doesn't work for the climate that I live in and the lifestyle that I lead. And that maybe I'm just not gutsy enough to make it happen.
But the fact still remains, I don't know what to do about socks.

Phooey

Word on the street is that prices at Hermes are going up by 9% at the end of the month.

It's just cruel

It's all about resort wear right now and I'm stuck in the land of Canada Goose coats. I'm surprised that I haven't seen any babies in the stuff yet. I'm not joking - it exists.

The Social Feed - Toronto edition

This evening, I participated in the inaugural Toronto event of The Social Feed. Originally started in Vancouver, attendees pay for a ticket to attend a dinner at a local restaurant. I think it's an interesting idea. I didn't know what kind of folks would be interested in such a thing and the fact that it was a 'family style' meal intrigued me as well. And for $28, it was worth the 'risk'.
Well, it was really fun!
I've previously attended a 'buy-a-ticket-for-an-event-with-strangers' thing before, and while it was a neat experience, I found that most of the crowd seemed like they already knew each other and was not quite as willing to branch out. I had enjoyed the premise of the event (which was different than this one), but had felt quite awkward at times. In this instance, there were a couple of us who came with another person, but everyone seemed genuinely interested in getting to know other people at the table.
We were seated at two rectangular tables placed end to end, which didn't actually work out too well for meeting everyone at the event. There wasn't an organized 'mingling' period to the night, so I think we naturally just chatted within the smaller tables. I happened to be seated along the wall in the middle of the long bench seat, so I wasn't able to conveniently move about. Others who were on the facing side of the table seated in free chairs did attempt to swap seats between courses, so my one recommendation to the organizers/hosting restaurant would be to seat the group at tables with easy access to all seats. We did discuss and organized swap of key seats at each of the tables, but it didn't end up happening very effectively. Maybe another group would have been more proactive about it. I too could have been more proactive and not worried as much about inconveniencing my bench-seat neighbours by having them slide over to let me out.
The food was fantastic as well. I had dined at Czehoski's previously, but I don't remember it being as good as our meal was tonight. Here was our menu. Another great thing about this set-up was that it's clearly a win-win for the restaurant and the attendees because larger portions are easy to cook and multiple courses and better for sampling. I would have never been able to get a 12-course tasting menu for $28. And all of the food was great. The dessert...oh, my. So. Good. And the ice cream that went with the Apple Tartin was salted caramel, not vanilla. Yuuuuuuuuum. Often at group meals, you get dud food. This was clearly a well thought out menu, with a motif throughout. It flowed well and was well paced. Passing around plates of food does lend itself well to conversations and 'grazing' also lets folks take breaks to chat and not be rude when reaching across to get that 2nd helping of whatever. The food was seriously good and it got better as the meal progressed. I'm still not a fan of risotto, but the rest of the mains were really good, and well, I've already expressed how delicious the dessert was. Pacing seemed quite good. We got enough breaks between courses to chat and (sort-of) mingle and well, allow us to be able to eat all of those courses. It was a lot of food!
It was an interesting mix of people who attended the event. I liked it. I couldn't (well, I could...but it was still curious) believe how quickly folks pulled out their Smart devices, Tweeted, Instagrammed, Facebooked, swapped contact info, etc. This is where business cards would be useful. I guess that's the point, right? Exchanging info through pieces of paper is obsolete? I refuse to believe it. I suppose that's what social media is all about. Is it contradictory that I would be interested in an event like The Social Feed, but am vaguely disgusted with social media?
Anyway, who knows if I'll actually cross paths with these folks again, but even if it does just turn out to be a discrete event in my life, I would have to say that it was a success.
The second Toronto event takes place next week and is already sold out. There are just a couple seats left for the third event.
I would definitely go to another 'Social Feed'. And you should too.

Hmmm...

Those folks who do the "don't eat after 7pm" thing(/diet). Do they just miss out on a lot of social functions? I don't really understand how it's possible. It just doesn't seem realistic.

The Joy of Books

Book...they're not just good for reading.
Woot - Type Books!


It's based off of a previous video that Sean and Lisa Ohlenkamp made. I'd seen it before and liked it, but I forget from where:

Les mains d'Hermes

Je veux le voir!!!

The Life of a Bauble

It would have been better timed if I'd posted this a couple weeks ago, but for someone who, when I was younger and still put up a tree each year, kept the tree up well into February (I remember, because it was piano competition season and I would stare at the tree to help me memorize my pieces), I guess it still fits post-holiday.

Gah

It's 4am. I'm still wide awake. I mean, I know people who are soon going to be getting up for work, for goodness sakes. I've tried going to bed, but I just can't turn my brain off. I really need to snap out of this funk.

HA HA HA HA HA!!!

I stumbled upon this today.
So, in high school, I was part of a jazz dance group. I had no jazz dance background and knew nothing about the genre, but I would just pick up whatever choreography was given to me. The Spangles Dance Company is hilarious because it's so old school jazz. And even funnier is that we did all of those moves in our routines.

The Art of Dancing

I love the way they try to interpret the genre and style of the music each day. So fantastic!

Squished bubbles

Who knew that facebook could provide some interesting links. Thanks, Newsfeed!
Behold: When Bubbles Get Comfortable

Holiday TV episodes

Since I don't have a TV, I'm a little bit behind on TV shows. I just watched the holiday episode of Community. Hilarious.

Ewwww...

Slimey water feels so gross.

Star guitar

I'd never seen this video before today. I mean, seriously:


Don't get why it's so amazing? Watch this:


I get how he planned it, but I can't figure out how he did it. Is it just a bunch of footage chopped together in the most amazing way?

Seriously

I cannot wrap my head around folks who are tethered to their Blackberry at social functions. And hiding it under the table doesn't make it better. You're like the students who think that teachers can't see you texting from your lap. Instead of looking at your face, all I see is the top of your head. Uh, hello!

Drooool

This is a beautiful video, non?

Bleh

One of the worst feelings is being woken up by your phone ringing and it's your driver, already waiting for you downstairs.

Addendum: I re-read this post and had to laugh out loud. Total First World Problem!

Wahoo!

As I'm slowly climbing up the ladder in this ivory tower and have moved into an office that has a window (seriously - there's a hierarchy directly related to window space), I can say that it's snowing outside! Wahoo!

Yum

Oh blessed tarte des Grisons. You. Are. So. Delicious.

Le Select

Le Select is so convenient to me in terms of location and it reminds me of a place that I used to love going to when I lived in Europe. I was really hoping that this restaurant could be 'my' restaurant (I'm looking for a place that can be my go-to place), but unfortunately the menu isn't all that exciting, especially at the price point and the food is just ok.

Price point: mid
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Would return again: yes

Mengrai Thai

Mengrai Thai is a restaurant. Nothing overly special, but definitely not horrible.

Price point: low-mid
Ambiance: 4/5
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Would return again: yes

Harlem Restaurant

I've been here a couple times. Sometimes for food, or for drinks, or for music. It can be really cramped for space if you don't get a good table.

Price point: low-mid
Ambiance: 3/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Would return again: yes

Jump

Jump is part of the Oliver & Bonacini family of restaurants. I've come to realize that this probably means that while the restaurant experience will be fairly decent, the food itself will be pretty mediocre. I should give Canoe another go at some point. I think the last time I was there was when I was a teenager. Maybe late teens or soon thereafter.

Price point: mid
Ambiance: 4/5
Food: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Would return again: yes

Sushi Kaji

I'm not a fan of wasabi. I don't like the taste of it. I'll eat the stuff that's hidden in the sushi and sashimi but I won't glob on anything extra. One of the pieces of sushi came with wasabi pearls, so I brushed them off and left them on the plate as I happily ate the sushi. While everyone else got a wasabi macaron with their dessert, my plate came with a yuzu macaron. And I had never said a thing. Now that's what I call attentive service.
Also, eating at the sushi bar when there's an open kitchen, watching the chefs artfully prepare their dishes and having the chance to chat with them is quite nice too.

Price point: high
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Would return again: yes

Fabbrica

Mark McEwan's Fabbrica is sort of out of the way if you're a downtown dweller without a vehicle but it's not too bad of a restaurant.

Price point: mid
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Food: 4/5
Service: 3/5 (It was pretty atrocious that night. Although the staff were very pleasant, I think we waited an hour for our main. They comp-ed us a dessert to make up for it.)
Would return again: yes

King West Kitchen

I thought that King West Kitchen would be decent because of its location. I was super disappointed.

Price point: low-mid
Ambiance: 4/5
Food: 2/5
Service: 2/5
Would return again: no

Yuzu

I hope my skimpy restaurant reviews don't overshadow the good quality places that I've dined at. I think I'll use this as a repository of my impressions of various restaurants so I know if I want to go back to them or not.

I will mention that each time I've been to Yuzu, it's been with people who are regulars. As in, they have their own personalized chopsticks that are kept at the restaurant for them. I've been on select days when the food will be really good and have never ordered a la carte. I think there's one 'starter' that's a la carte that we've always gotten, but everything else is really whatever the chef feels like making that night. It's definitely stuff that doesn't go out to other tables as well. The chefs that I've chatted with like the fact that they can experiment on us and let their creativity run wild. I haven't been disappointed with the food yet. The ambiance and service is good, but most likely because who I'm with. I'm sure it would be great otherwise, but it's nothing over-the-top special. And I can't comment on the price, because each time I've been, they just ring in random items because we never get anything that's actually billable. I'm sure we're undercharged each time. Point is, the food is amazing. And it's presented well. I would have to say that this restaurant has made me realize just how good sushi and sashimi really can be.

Price point: mid (I think? My experiences there probably aren't the norm and I'm not charged as such)
Ambiance: 4/5
Food: 5/5 (Again, I've gotten special treatment every time I'm there, so this is definitely a skewed review)
Service: 4/5
Would return again: yes

OINY

Does anyone get The Babysitters Club reference?

Anyway, only on 5th Avenue would you have Bottega Veneta and Forever 21 be neighbours.

And only in New York do you have Times Square and just one block over in Bryant Park, a skating rink and Holiday Market which makes me miss Europe oh, so terribly. I'll have to get roasted chestnuts while I'm here and I'm kinda happy that I don't have to content with the gluwein smell.

So I had thought that I might that this trip to splurge on a new winter coat and was hoping that Moncler would be the place to do it. I was surprise at how limited the collection was in the store. And of course, the one coat that I kinda liked was the one that they didn't bother putting a price tag on. It had this crazy (removable) fur collar. Wool on the outside, but parka-ish on the inside. I'm sure it's so cozy to wear.

And I think I need to give up on my hope that I will be able to own the Loewe bag that I've wanted for all of these years. My adventures in Europe this past summer turned up empty and the shop that carries the brand here in NY doesn't have it anymore. I'm actually devastated about this realization. I'm thoroughly hoping that the company will bring back the large logo format of the Amazona in the future. They've got to. Everything comes back at some point. Sigh.

Occupy _________

The Occupy *insert whatever location name here* thing that's been going on doesn't really interest me. Well, the actual issues that it stands for doesn't but witnessing the 'occupation' does. I think I'm running out of time to see people 'occupying Toronto' and I definitely won't have time to make my way out to their location until next week. Maybe I'll be able to see some Occupy Wall Street action while I'm in the city.

Random fact about me

When I get a migraine, my senses get hyper-sensitive. For example, I can't wear my gorgeous leather jackets because the smell of the leather is unbearable.

What the?!?

Apparently I used up $80 of my pay-as-you-go money last week. And those who know me knows that there's no way that I could have actually done it intentionally. I mean, I barely use my phone at all. The fact that I even have $80 on my account has got to say something about my phone usage. And I still have money left on my account! Darn cell phone doesn't stay locked in my bag.
So. Annoyed.

Random musings from high in the sky

On descent to San Fransisco, I recognize four things:
1. Alcatraz
2. Golden Gate Bridge
3. Stanford University
4. IKEA
I'm trying to read into these sightings more than I probably should.

I love flying at night and seeing cities lit up below. How it's a sheet of darkness interspersed with little clumps of lit up areas. A sign that there's life. And sometimes you can see thin lines of light connecting them. It's pretty magical.

Reno, Nevada (October 20-24, 2011)

Although I have traveled quite a fair bit, I really haven't had much of a chance to discover North America. This past weekend, I had the chance to visit Reno, Nevada. It was a long flight down. I had a stopover in San Fransico. A long one (thanks, "low hanging fog"). Anyway, I was pretty
exhausted on the flight out of Toronto and ended up sleeping most of the way. I did wake up at one point to see this lovely view out the window. I wish I knew exactly where we were. Can you see those faint lines on the ground? Are those really roads? Crazy.
The other thing that I couldn't figure out was what these round circles were. Alien landing pads, I'm sure!
I stayed in a pretty nice place while in Reno. A mini resort-type place of sorts. I haven't stayed at a place with a pool area like this in quite some
time. And of course seeing the Sierra mountain ranges in the distance was nice. But seriously, did it need to be so over-the-top in its Italian inspired decor? The stucco ceilings, gold gilded everything...it was a bit excessive. And a shocking contrast to the black walls and neon lights of the lobby interior. I guess there is no easy way to transition from Italian Renaissance to Gaudy Casino.
As I said, I haven't traveled much around North America. Especially in the States.
I didn't have too much time to do touristy things during this trip, but I'm pretty sure that there wasn't much to do. I'm really hoping that Lake Tahoe is very similar to Lake Louise because I can't see myself coming
back here anytime soon. Reno is, ummm, pretty sad.
I saw everything that there was to see in a 30 minute walkabout. Pretty depressing. Some 'highlights':
- University of Nevada and the big football stadium. The 'big-ness' of it was just so American. At least, my impression of American university life.
- Overheard while on the public transit bus: "My mom bailed on me. She took off. Last time, she took all of my stuff with her and sold it to buy dope. Hey, is that jewellery store still open? You can get $___ per 10g...if I'm going to get arrested today, it'll just happen. Oh, that sucks [pointing to a guy on the sidewalk getting arrested]. Hey, that's _____! Crap, ____'s getting arrested."
- A bride in the hotel wedding chapel wearing a bright purple poufy dress.
- I sorta get how to play craps now. And I've figured out how to play Pai Gow poker. I have no interest in playing them myself, but I like watching.
- Why had I never heard of the Cha-Cha Slide before this weekend?

I'm not entirely sure what's in the cards for me in the next couple of years, but this trip, seeing some sights and interacting with some people...it opened my eyes and gave me some new perspective on things. Everything happens for a reason, so in the meantime, I've just got wait it out and have faith.

Another thing

Pedagogy: pe-da-gah-gy or pe-da-go-gy?

Is this the to-may-to/to-mah-to of Canadian vs. American education researchers?

Tee hee

I get a little kick out of hear people say Toronto. I guess I always knew that 'we' call it Torono, but these past couple of days have really hit it home. Also, people love our city. That's no surprise though, it's amazing.

Find the baby bison

I knew that this was going to be happening awhile back but couldn't give more details at the time. This is so great on so many levels!

Bah ha ha ha ha!

I made $7.73 on the 1 cent slot machines here in Reno, so I cashed out.

A little kid at heart

Some of the movators in SFO are really bouncy. If there weren't so many people around, I totally would have hopped my way across them. Why is it a societal norm that adults need to act restrained and stuff?

What a rip off

$25 to check in a piece of luggage? Ridiculous. I'll have to rethink my strategies. My luggage is carry-on-able, but I like checking it in so that I don't have to worry about it while I'm waiting around in the airport and embarking and disembarking the plane. I know that most people like the convenience of grabbing and going, but I don't mind waiting for my luggage too much. Domestic AC flights are really slow to get the luggage out to the carousels at YYZ, but everywhere else I've been hasn't been too bad.
Anyway, $25 is super silly. I might have to downsize my ready-to-go toiletry kit. Or maybe just not take United Airlines again.

Probably not normal

Is it weird that after acquiring a package of math manipulatives I thought that it would be super cool if I put them in a nice little basket on my coffee table for guests to enjoy?
Among many other benefits, I think it would be a good conversation starter, something to keep folks busy and why not spread the mathy love?

TIFF11 roundup

So I ended up watching 10 different films this year. There was only one that I didn't really like, there were a couple that I thought were okay and the rest, I really loved.
Only one of the films that I saw won an award, in fact, most of the winners weren't ones that even made my short list.

So in order that I watched the films, here they are:
1. Girl Model
2. Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
3. Whore's Glory
4. First Position
5. In Darkness
6. Monsieur Lazhar
7. Killer Elite
8. Undefeated
9. Trespass
10. The Oranges

I admit, I didn't put a lot of effort into my reviews this year. I didn't bother to give synopses of the films, as I figured that people could read them from the TIFF website themselves.
I was reminded that I'd have a better chance at getting a Q&A after a screening if I attended the premiere of a film during the festival.
Anyway, it was a great festival. There are always more films to see than I have time for. I'm pretty lucky that I've been able to attend so many of them and that my schedule allows for daytime screenings on weekdays and even multiple screenings in a day. Three a day is my limit and I find that to be a lot. By the end of it, I'm exhausted, but then I met some folks that do five or six in a day - crazy!
I love the buzz of the festival. I'm glad that it takes place in the city.

The Oranges

The final film that I saw during this year's edition of the TIFF was The Oranges.
I suppose my theory that earlier screenings during the festival have a better chance of having Q&As is proving to be true. I'm going to have to keep that in mind for future festivals.
You can read the synopsis of the film here. Anyway, this first was, ummm...okay. It had some funny one-liners and such, but it seems relatively uneventful. It was enjoyable, but I didn't love it. It was cute, but it wasn't groundbreaking. I feel like this film had a lot of potential. From the beginning of the film, just the style of the movie, how the characters spoke and their interactions with one another, even the type of music they used, I thought that it would be similar to Juno.
It was okay, but it just didn't extend itself to the extent that it could be. I don't think this review is doing this film any justice. Which is too bad. It was pretty cute. I'm just tired, I suppose.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Trespass

I picked Trespass (official website here) because I'm a sucker for 'heist'-type movies. Well, I was a sucker for picking this movie.
It was horrible.
I never seem to give negative reviews on this blog about anything. I always try to find something good about everything, but I really can't with this one.
It was ridiculous. It was so forced. It was so wacky. It was so frenetic. It was so weird.
During the screening, people were laughing at all the wrong times. I figured everyone else in the screening also didn't like the movie, but then as I was leaving, I heard someone say that they really loved the movie. So then, maybe I thought I was taking the film too literally. As soon as I got home, I actually went online to check whether or not the film was actually supposed to be a parody. When I found some reviews that blasted the movie, I felt better about my judgement of the film.
The crappy part is that I'm sure it's going to get at least a limited release in theatres because of the big names that it has in the film.
There was no one representing the film to introduce the film at the screening or do a Q&A. Too bad, I would have loved to hear what they had to say.
Oh my gosh, I completely do NOT recommend this film.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Laryngitis

I've lost my voice. It's a teacher's worst nightmare.
What was a nice little cold decided to attack my poor overexposed larynx.
Now that I think back, I can kind of see the progression of how it happened. Coughing on Tuesday morning while I was teaching and using my voice to its full capacity. Tuesday afternoon, throat feeling tired, but unlike what usually happens after a busy day in the classroom.
Wednesday daytime, voice is super sexy and raspy. Chugging warm liquids and styling some scarves. Seems to be getting better as the day goes on and head to my evening class with strategies of how to get the class talking more than me. It's torture, but I survive.
Thursday morning. No voice. Nothing. No sound what soever. It's still such an interesting phenomenon for me. It's not painful, although everyone I try speaking with says that it sounds painful. I am physically speaking the same way that I would any other day, and the same amount of air is coming out, but there no vibrations going on. It's such a strange sensation.
So, it's a virus so there are no drugs I can take to get over it faster. I'm just taking on as many home remedies as I can handle. I hope they don't cancel each other out somehow. I've been told to let my voice rest. Don't speak if possible.
The rest of Thursday was spent trying not to talk, but it's kind of impossible in my field. I wasn't teaching, but when you're around people, you kind have to talk. And there were various meetings and events that I really couldn't just ignore. I did show up 'fashionably late' to one event because I knew that the beginning was a mingling-type situation, so I thought if I could skip that part, it might work out better.
I took this morning off. It was nice to sleep in, because I need it and just haven't been able to afford to do so. So that's a blessing in disguise, but I was supposed to be doing something very important this morning, so I'm frustrate that I had to cancel. And I'm lucky to be working with a very understanding colleague on another project so that freed up part of this afternoon and Monday. So, my strategy is to be a hermit as much as possible for these next couple of days. As I don't have the habit of talking out loud to myself, it's the only way I can possible attempt to not use my voice.
I just desperately want to get my voice back again for Tuesday. I've got a cracking lesson planned that I'd really like to execute.

Undefeated

Another movie, another documentary. Undefeated (official website here) follows the Manassas Tigers' run to win their first ever playoff game. The storyline is pretty close to athletes preparing for a big competition, so obviously I would love the film. And I did.
Not only are we following the team as they search for success on the field and learn more about the personal lives of some of the team members, but we're also finding out about the coach of this football team. Coach Bill Courtney is as much a star of the film if not the star. I am in complete awe that he volunteers his time to coach. There are some teachers who are paid to do their job who don't do half of what he does for those kids.
And as you would think for a film about a team from a rough area of town this film is less so about doing well in the game but more about how these young men develop their identities, pursue their dreams, and strengthen their character. I forget the phrase that the coach kept repeating to his team, but ultimately it was about how the way you handle defeat really defines you.
The Q&A with directors Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin as well as special guest Coach Bill Courtney was great. They answered a wide range of questions relating to the film's content to the filmmaking process. All three of them had create personalities that showed their passion for the film and the subject matter.
I don't know if this film will get wide-release (probably not? Do documentaries get wide-release?) but I'm sure it'll get picked up at some level. Maybe a limited release in select cities or for DVD or TV. It has to. It's an amazing story.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Killer Elite

Killer Elite (official website here) is a big, Hollywood blockbuster movie with big name celebrities and is getting wide release. All of this means that I shouldn't have selected to watch the film at TIFF and just waited to see it in theatres, but I'm a sucker for hitman movies. I love those silly movies that involve characters plotting someone else's demise. I like finding out the sneaky and creative ways that do the deed. In the same vein, I like heist movies.
So, Killer Elite was good fun. These movies aren't supposed to be cerebral or anything, but there are crazy action scenes and that's all that I'm really looking for. If you're the type of person that judges a movie when you see a character jump off of a bazillion-floor building or run from bullets without getting hurt, this isn't the movie for you.
Apparently it got some bad reviews and the director, Gary McKendry addressed them in the Q&A. He talked about how he just wanted to make an over-the-top film 'for the boys', because at the end of the day, boys love films with lots of things exploding and big fight scenes. Ahem - some girls like them too.
The Q&A had a different kind of tone than most of the others ones that I've attended. There was a lot more conversation about the process and questions about this being his first feature film.
So, the film was entertaining. That's probably how I would best describe it. There was one flaw, though. The film is set in the 70s and they drive cars that were around back then, most of the men are sporting classic moustaches and relevant attire...except for Jason Statham's character (well, and his leading lady and Robert De Niro's character as well). So that struck me as really odd, but it wasn't so bad because dressed in present-day garb, he's pretty good to look at. Ha.
The film is in theatres now or soonish (sorry, I don't actually keep track of these things) so if you like these kind of films, go watch it. It's pretty much everything you'd expect this kind of film to be.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Monsieur Lazhar

Monsieur Lazhar is a film about immigration, communication, and education. I'm starting to hit the wall about writing these reviews because I'm so worn out, but that doesn't mean that I didn't like the films. It just means that I think that the TIFF write-up and any other reviews that you can find on the internet can do a much better job than I can in this current state. So I think I'm going to skip the synopsis part of my write-ups and see what I can fit in to a short one-liner.
Anyway, The one word that I would use to describe this film is subtle. I does touch upon some interesting issues, but either I'm too dense to get what they were trying to say or maybe they just didn't make as big a deal out of the issues as they could have. I would have like more of the issues front and center and flushed out a bit more. Basically, I the film finished and I was expecting more. It was nice, but I think that there was so much more potential there.
This film was by the same director as the film that I watched (and loved) a couple years ago, C'est pas moi, je le jure!. There are definite similarities between the films. Children who really capture the audience, some tough issues and quirky characters and somehow an Amelie-esque feel to the film. I wonder if I say that about all films that are in French. But something about the simple nature of the films, and the style of the dialogue reminds me of Amelie. And the cadence of the speech...which, yeah, I guess could be just the fact that it's in French.
There was a Q&A with this film, but I didn't really get much out of it. The director, Philippe Falardeau, once again shared how he worked with children on-set, he answered questions with humour and even imbedded humour in a scripted pre-screening introduction with one of the children from the film. The young boy was great int he film, but I thought the young girl (who wasn't at the screening) was superb. I would have liked to hear her talk about her experiences.
So in the end, although the synopsis caught my eye and of course the fact that it related to teaching, schools and education, it wasn't the portrayal of the story that really made me enjoy the film. It was good, but as I previously said, I thought it could have done more. But I think this is a personal preference thing. People all around me loved the film and the audience gave the team that was at the Q&A a warm round of applause. So yeah, the real reason this film is great is the cast. I thought each member of the cast did a wonderful job in their role and their emotions, interactions and delivery of their lines really made me enjoy the film.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

In Darkness

There have been may films about the atrocities against the Jews during World War II. In Darkness is a feature film, based on a true story of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker, who, as a result of his profession and knowledge of these underground tunnels becomes a hero just as Oskar Schindler of Schindler's List did.
This film felt a tad bit long. I think there were moments in the first half of the movie that could have been cut out (the runtime was 145 minutes), but as the film continued, it just got better and better.
What stood out in this film? I'm not sure. I loved Schindler's List, but I can't think of something in particular that I loved. Well, there was the amazing score John Williams. I didn't notice this film's score to be be something extra special (I would assume, because it's a week later, and I can't seem to remember the music in detail), so I guess it can't be that. In Schindler's List, there was the girl with the red coat. In this film, there was a girl in blue boots. The cast was very good in both films. The subject matter, was of course, very powerful. I guess there wasn't one thing that I can pinpoint as to why this film was incredible, but it definitely was.
One thing to note is that instead of 'Hollywood' actors playing the roles and speaking in English, this film used Polish actors speaking in Polish and German. This was one of the director's, Agnieszka Holland's important pieces of the film. Apparently she was approach a couple time to make the film, but she hesitated, not really wanting to go back to this topic and also to not do a typical Hollywood blockbuster take on it.
Before the screening, director Agnieszka Holland introduced her film and brought many people from her team along with a couple actors up on stage. It seemed like a very long intro to me, as I thought we could just as easily met these folks afterwards during the Q&A...but there wasn't one. After the film, the director came back onstage (to a standing ovation), and once the audience had taken their seats again, she brought up that little girl with the blue boots onstage. I've forgotten her name, but she wrote a book about her experiences and this was of course an inspiration for the film. A few words of thanks and then they walked off-stage and the lights came on. I wonder why they decided not to do a Q&A?
So I'll definitely recommend the film. You'll get all of the same emotions that you would watching Schindler's List. Schindler's List is an award winning film and this one, although I have no idea if it's going to get picked up for wide-release, it's just as emotional. Of course there were many moments where emotions were running high, but there was one stand-out moment in which the entire audience gasped. Incredible.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

First Position

I think anytime you have a documentary following competitors preparing for a major competition, you're going to get a good result. The film will inherently have suspense, have the audience be rooting for their favorite - I've yet to see a film with this kind of premise that I didn't like. Jig, from Hot Docs 2011 was the most recent film that I saw that followed competitors preparing for an event and it was fabulous. Coincidentally, TIFF version of a leading-up-to-a-competition doc was also about dancers, but instead of Irish dancing, the topic of the film was ballet.
First Position (official website here), was one of the few films that I was 100% sure I wanted to see. My process in picking films is to go through every single film, read the programmer's notes, and just cut out the ones that don't catch my eye. After the first round of cuts, I'm usually left with about 50 or so films. Amongst those films, I'll make note of any films that really catch my eye and I definitely, definitely, definitely want to see. I think this year I ended up with 2 or 3 films in this category. Last year, Waiting for "Superman" made it into that category.
Anyway, the film followed six dancers as they prepared for the Youth American Grand Prix. As to be expected from a film of this genre, there was a variety in the backgrounds of the dancers. The rich dancer. The poor dancer. The not-the-typical-body-type dancer. The has-a-sorta-stage-mom dancer.
Also like most of these films, there wasn't anything groundbreaking about the film. Sure you learn a little bit more about ballet (or whatever the topic is), but the dedication, sweat, pain, tears, passion, adversity, triumph and the rest of the stuff that come with it. That's nothing surprising.
The one potential flaw with this film is that each of the dancers is a success story. I'd read a review before I watched the film was 'ruined' this ending for me, so I guess I'm going to ruin it now for everyone else (although, if you're enough of a die hard, you'd already know how these dancers did at the competition anyway). Usually you expect at least one character to 'lose' and then make a speech about how they're not going to to give up their dream and/or they've had a good run and they're happy with what they've accomplished either way, but in this film everyone ended up succeeding. At least for the meantime.
In the Q&A with first time filmmaker Bess Kargman, she addresses this criticism and says that her intention was to follow special characters. She used to be a dancer so she picked these dancers to follow because she could see that each one of them had an 'it factor'. So really, she picked winners right from the beginning.
So why it this film so amazing? It's the subject matter, it's the amazing dancing, but it's probably more the characters which makes the film great. Bess did a great job picking characters (there were a couple more dancers that she followed, but she only ended up using these six...not sure why - although the rest of them have bit parts in the film) who not only had great back stories, but also had great personalities to follow. I'm sure that the characters weren't always "on", but some really great moments were captured in and included in the film. Some very funny moments, I might add.
So yeah, I'd recommend this film.

- picture courtesy of www.firstpositionfilms.com

Here's to another great festival

I've decided that tonight was my last night for TIFF for this year. There's still a weekend's worth of films still left to see, but I've had a good run with the ten films that I did watch. Although there was one that I actually didn't like, (and I can usually interpret or analyse the heck out of a film until I start to like it) two were so-so and the rest I enjoyed. This year was my busiest in terms of non-TIFF stuff during TIFF, and I am battling my obligatory beginning-of-the-school-year cold.
I have a very busy couple of months ahead, so I think it's best if I take it easy this weekend and not get tempted to watch more films. Let's wait and see if I break or not.
As I said, I had a pretty good success rate with my films this year. And as always, I've had a good experience, but there were some things that I noticed from this year that I hadn't in previous years. Screenings were not very punctual. In previous years, I would join the ticket holder line 30-45 minutes in advance and not even be close to the beginning of the line. It was what I had to do to ensure that I would get a good seat. this year, I would stroll arrive to the theatre 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, not have a bad position in line, or even just stroll right into the theatre five minutes before the screening would start and not even bother with the line at all. I can't imagine that I selected films that were much less popular than ones that I'd selected in previous years, but rush lines seemed short or non-existant. I was able to buy a ticket for one of the screenings that I was going to rush, and joined a rush line 10 minutes before the scheduled start time of another and the line was probably only 20 deep. I used to show up to rush lines one hour before screening and still be concerned that I couldn't get in.
Volunteers seemed less organized and/or assertive and this mainly came out in line-up confusion. At AMC, corralling in a different theatre than that in which the screening will take place isn't a new idea, but boy, were there glitches. And I shouldn't have been able to go all the way to the theatre at the TIFF Bell Lightbox before being told that the line-up for the screening was downstairs and outside of the building. And it was five minutes before showtime...why was the line still outside. Even more entertaining was that when the line was finally let into the building, we had to snake our way through the cordoned area set up just outside of the theatre...for a line. So why did we have to line up outside in the first place? And when we were basically just entering the theatre, just bother having us snake through? It was strange.
But, as always, seatmates were cheerful and friendly (unless they were in the industry - and then it was touch and go), those introducing the films were enthusiastic and there was a nice vibe in the city.
All in all, it's been a great festival and hopefully I'll have a chance to write-up about the rest of the films that I saw soon.

Whores' Glory

Whores' Glory (official website here) is a triptych about prostitution in three locations around the world: Bangkok (Thailand), Faridpur (Bangladesh) and Reynosa (Mexico). We get an inside look at a brothel in each location, meet some of the girls/ladies who work there, some of the folks who are in charge of the girls/ladies, and some of the folks who are customers.
This is the third film that I saw at the festival and all three have been documentaries thus far. I'm figuring out that I like documentaries because I like to learn. I like to understand and I like to know about different components of our world. I specifically like to know about people, their stories, their lives and why they do what they do. People are fascinating.
Brothels and prostitution don't really come up as topics in every day conversations. It's not something that's commonplace in my environment. It really is another unknown that I honestly can say that I have no judgements about. I don't know enough about it to make any judgements about it. I may know what pop culture says about it, but that doesn't make me feel like I actually know anything about the topic.
This documentary did a great job of giving me the chance to hear from people whom I probably will never have a chance to meet and seeing their world. It was amazing what the filmmakers were allowed access to, and just how candid everyone being interviewed was. It wasn't always that I was shocked at what they were saying and their perspective of reality. I mean, I suspected as much to be true, but as I said before, these topics just aren't talked about on a regular basis in my environment so it's pretty stunning to hear so much of it in a concentrated piece.
Not all of it seemed 'sad'. As I thought, some of it seemed to be just another way of life. But, as the film progressed things got more and more grim. The reality of some situations, and hearing the girls speak about their realities was pretty heart-wrenching.
This was a film that would have had a great Q&A. To find out more about the topic, to find out more about the process and how the production team was able to, well, get access to it all. Here's where my thoughts of a strategy for knowing which screenings to attend didn't quite work out. The director was supposed to have attended, however, he just won an award at the Venice Film Festival for this film and so, Venice beat out TIFF. This, I will accept.
Luckily, the film's website is a great place to find out some more information. It is well worth a read.
This film is also well worth a watch.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope

Another film, another documentary.
At Hot Docs this past year, I watched Morgan Spurlock's POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. It was entertaining. Not the most amazing piece of work that I've ever seen in my life, but definitely entertaining. I was pretty sure that watching Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope would be equally as entertaining. I was right.
The fun started as soon as I arrived to the theatre. Stormtroopers lined the sidewalk. They kindly moved aside to let me pass. Going up that long escalator in the Scotiabank, I had a prime view of all of the different characters who were standing on the accompanying stairs to welcome us to the show. I think I only recognized 10% of the characters. There were more characters wandering around the hallways upstairs. Some posing with other festival-goers for photos, others just hanging out. I was expecting a couple folks in line to be dressed up as well, but I guess those folks go to the actual Comic-Con instead of just going to a documentary about it.
The documentary did a great job of profiling some classic Comic-Con attendees. Aspiring illustrators, aspiring costumers, figurine collectors, a legend from the comic book collecting world, and a pair of nerdy fans who are ever-so-deeply in love. Interspersed between the storytelling of their time leading up to the convention and time at the convention were interviews with some big names in the biz (I assume so - I clearly know nothing about this 'biz') as well as some great snippets with other attendees.
The documentary tied the scenes together through comic-esque drawings. Freezing real footage which morphed into drawn images, zooming out to a page of the comic book of the doc and panning to the next panel and zooming in to reveal the next vignette to be told.
There were at least a dozen folks (including Stan Lee, whom everyone around me was freaking out about - meh. No big deal. Although, he does seem to have a lot of charisma, is a great speaker and comes with his own well=dressed security guard) onstage for the post-screening Q&A. This was the world premiere, so I guess this was the place to be. I think that's going to be my strategy. I love the Q&As and the first screening of the film is at least the TIFF premiere, if not the North American premiere or the world premiere, so chances are there will be someone from the production in attendance and willing to speak about the film and/or answer some questions about it.
Again, this film wasn't ground breaking, but I sure enjoyed it. It's neat to get an inside scoop into Comic-Con and hear about some real-live stories. To follow adventures, root for the characters and of course smile when they give you the 'where are they now' update that (of course) takes place during the end credits.
It's definitely a fun film to watch.

- picture courtesy of www.tiff.net

Girl Model

Here we go!!! I'll be seeing at least 8 films this year, and I'm pretty exhausted from life, but at least I'm not sick like I was last year. Fingers crossed I don't get sick any time soon.
So, to my first film of the festival, Girl Model (official website here). This is a documentary about a former-model turned scout, her work in Russia scouting girls for the Japanese market, the Russian girls who hope to become models and make it big not only for themselves, but for their families back at home in Russia, and then the experiences of these girls in Japan - a very foreign locale.
So, my take on the film - umm...what the huh?!? I still haven't figured out what kind of movies I like. Is it ones with a happy ending? Ones that throw your for a loop? Ones that make you think? Ones that are predictable?
The film highlighted some obvious ideas: the younger the better, the skinnier the better, models can be naive, models and their families could be relying on the girls for success and a new life, agencies are crafty, etc.
I know that I don't like films (maybe I should be more specific and say documentaries) that don't examine an idea in depth. Not only is this one of those documentaries but I also feel like it was just so wishy washy, confusing and even the filmmaking part of it didn't seem particularly intriguing. I mean, it wasn't particularly artistic, creative...it wasn't...errr...special.
See, I know that when Thom Powers introduces a film, he has say good things about it, but he really pumped up this film saying that it was the first documentary that he picked to be in the festival. He just "knew" that early on in the year that this film was something special. I wish I understood what he saw in this film.
I'm mighty glad that we had a Q&A with the producers and one of the more experienced models featured the film. There weren't many questions from the get go. Maybe the audience was as confused or disappointed as I was. And then, after the filmmakers gave a wishy washy answer to a question, I was about to give up complete hope. Maybe they were just completely wishy washy in general. But then, as they kept talking, they started 'revealing' more. Their wishy washiness in answering questions seemed to be because they were trying their best to be as diplomatic with their answers as possible. Basically, that part of the industry was just as confusing to them as it was to us and they were just as aghast as we were about some of the realities but for some reason needed to be careful how they dealt with it. The model didn't really have anything super enlightening to say, but in a way, her confusing and roundabout answers further solidified the notion that the industry is confusing and not fair, but aspiring models, especially ones who are so desperate to have a 'better life' just accept its weird ways, that it's an industry with some strange characters and that it's a pretty tight-knit, defensive and secretive community.
And once the lightbulb in my and the rest of the audience's head went off that there was actually more to the story that the filmmakers were hesitating to telling us, all of a sudden everyone had a question to ask. And just as to be expected, there was only time for one more question. It was a great question to tried to further get the filmmakers to voice their actual views on the issues and to help us better understand what the heck was going on with this world, and since it was clear that we figured out 'what was up', they opened up a little more to basically say, 'yeah...it's messed up'. And they also talked about a bunch of things that they'd encountered or filmed that gave you a better sense of just how wacky the world is, but I have no idea why these episode just weren't included in the final cut of the film.
So the film wasn't stellar, but thank goodness for that Q&A. I wonder if it was supposed to be a film that seemed like it was telling this on-the-surface (but wishy washy) tale, but that you were supposed to be so unsatisfied by the film that you were supposed to realize that there's more to it that the filmmakers just couldn't actually portray. I don't know...it seems like a lot to ask from an audience.
Sigh.

- picture courtesy of www.girlmodelthemovie.com

Friday afternoon ponderings

As I wander around campus and see the Froshies doing their thing, I wonder...
Do people look at me and see a weathered and grizzled graduate student or a sprightly and eager frosh?
The fact that I'm not wearing a fluorescent coloured t-shirt as part of Orientation Week festivities is a giveaway, but once that's all over, is there anything about how we present ourselves superficially that distinguish us?

Insider information

I don't get a chance to go into the ROM very often anymore. Other items on my portfolio are needing to be first priority, so I can only pop into the ROM when I've got extra time.
It's not that I have tons of time in my schedule right now, but I was able to squeeze in the annual departmental meeting in today (well, I took the one-hour lunch 'break' to run down the street to go in to school and get some work done - sigh).
BUT...as always, there are exciting things at the ROM.

1. Maya is coming in November!!! The lead curator for the exhibition, Justin Jennings, came in to chat with us and his enthusiasm was contagious. It's clearly going to be a great exhibit (which will be going to the Canadian Museum of Civilizations afterwards) and his talk brought me back to some of the stuff that I remembered learning about in Grade 8. Yeah, our school had a trip to Mexico...that's how we rolled. Anyway, the sites that we went to all of those years ago aren't going to be featured in the exhibition because they're too recent. This exhibition is looking back at pre-Spaniards stuff. It's not only that the topic that Justin was presenting about really great, nor was it that he was an exceptional presenter, but the fact that he was SO excited to share his love of the topic, his excitement for this exhibition...you couldn't help but be excited too. He was clearly geek-ing out as he was presenting some of the artifacts and details of their culture. Like a kid in a candy store.
It just further illustrated the importance for a teacher (speaker/presenter/etc.) to be passionate about the subject that they're teaching. Passion and genuine enthusiasm for a topic can get you a long way. I hope that my passion for my subject matter comes across when I teach. I'm pretty sure it does. In fact, I'm very aware of how giddy I got when I gave my intro talk about Calculus each time I taught that course. Sure, my students were laughing (at me), but I knew that they knew how excited I was about the topic and how much I wanted them to be excited too. I'm looking forward to getting that kid-in-a-candy-store feeling starting next week (roller coaster car is still going uphill...)

2. findthebabybison. Duuuuuude...when this finally goes public, it's going to be soooo goooooood. I wanna spill the beans so bad!

Must stay focused!

I've finally managed to get back to transcribing those interviews that I did in the Spring (and was supposed to transcribe by May), and was getting into the groove of it, but now there are fighter jets doing loop-de-loops and other fancy tricks right outside my window. Blargh.
It's funny that there's a whole line of Porter planes waiting on the tarmac for the show-off to finish its gig before they can take off.

Gooooooo!

Box 32 FTW?!?

My spidey-senses are tingling

I can feel it. The new year is coming and it's going to be a busy one. Big opportunities, big excitement, and big stress.
I can hear that clicking noise of the roller coaster as it's going up that first hill...and I'm not quite ready to put my arms up to fly.

Huzzah

Today is a special day for so many reasons. Here is one.
If you read this after the fact, this is what you missed.

IE's MP3 Experiment 8

I am jealous of their glow-stick festivities.
I can't be too upset, I still had mucho fun at the version that I attended.

Ew.

It's sticky here in the city. Ew.
I think I'm supposed to be grateful because apparently it was super gross last week, whereas today's actually not that bad. Fine.
My week in Paris had unfortunate weather as well. It rained every single day and probably hovered around the 15 degrees Celsius mark.
I guess that's what I get for complaining about getting sunburnt in Switzerland. Oh, how I miss that dry, cat-lying-in-the-sun, crazy altitude, heat.

Paris, tu me manques

It's Sunday morning, and I took one last tour around Paris. It's quieter on a Sunday morning, but there is always people out and about. I went to the Champs Elysees and they're setting up for the derniere partie of Le Tour de France. It would have been fun to stick around to watch them do laps around that wide street.
This has been a wonderful trip. It's been three years since visiting Europe the last time, and I know that I'm privileged to even have had many opportunities to board a plane, but I still wish I could do it more often.

Semantics

I was late for dance class tonight.
Well, first, I have to say that I took two dance classes here in Paris. It's the first time that I've been here and done something that wasn't 'for tourists'. It's not that I'm desperate to dance and don't want to loose a week (or two) of exercise while on vacation. In fact, I walk a bunch when I travel, so I am definitely keeping active. It's just that I thought it would be kind of interesting to see what dance classes in another city are like.
Anyway, the classes that I took, were very different from one another. Different teachers, so different styles. Variety is good every so often. And I realized, that when trying to figure out a teacher's style for dance, watching the movement isn't enough. I actually do need to rely on the auditory cues that accompany the movement. Hearing cues in a non-native language isn't quite the same. It's like I lost one of my senses when I was trying to follow the class.
I digress. as I said, I was late.
When signing in, I was told that the studio in which the class would take place was either on the 2nd floor or just 'that studio right there' (we were at the main/street level). Apparently the instructor was probably outside having a smoke, so I was supposed to just keep my eye out for him when he came back.
So, I take the stairs to go upstairs and look around the different studios to see if anything looks appropriate for my class. Just seeing a pointe class in action, I figure the class isn't upstairs, but on the main floor instead. I head back downstairs and see the previous class finishing up. Ah, this looks right. But no one else is waiting to start the next class nor do I see a teacher anywhere. Do classes start late here?
Finally, I figure maybe I should go back upstairs and double check the situation. Upon hearing some music that sounds promising, I open the studio door and ask the occupant of the studio about where the mystery class was being held. He tells me it's upstairs.
The lightbulb goes off. Over here, the 2nd floor is two floors above the main floor. They start counting at zero, not one. I had forgotten about that - Doh!

Midnight in Paris...in Paris

I just watched Midnight in Paris...in Paris. Sweet.
I also watched it at the Odeon cinema which is featured in the beginning montage. Doubly sweet.
I wish I knew a little bit more about people from the literature and art scene but I still enjoyed the film. So it wasn't my most favorite film ever. It definitely wasn't a language problem because I watched it VO. It was cute, but it didn't really move me in any way. I didn't feel like all of the characters lived up to their potential, although Dali got a bunch of laughs.
Still, it was cute to watch a film about Paris in Paris.
If I wasn't so tired, I would be wandering the streets right now and taking in the moment and enjoying life.
I mean, it's midnight afterall...there are amazing things happening in the city.

The battle of the macarons

The ultimate battle: Pierre Herme vs. Laduree.
I just happened to have three macarons from each Maison today. For a mid-morning snack, I went to Laduree. I chose Fraise Mentholee, Goyave, and Framboise-Anis. As soon as I bit in the first one, oh man, I was in heaven. There's something special about those little pastries that just, I don't know. It's pretty incredible.
For a mid-afternoon snack, I went to Pierre Herme and chose Mogador (fruits de la passion et chocolate au lait), Infiniment Rose, et Menthe et Petit Pois.
In my (not-so) expert opinion, it seems as though the biscuit of the Laduree macaron is more delicate than that of the Pierre Herme macaron. It's like the Pieree Herme macaron is a wee bit more solid and chewy whereas the Laduree macaron really crumbles with your first bite (or a firm grasp).
Laduree seems to have a bit more of a classic flavour selection. Lots of fruity flavours, and then classics like chocolat, pistache, and caramel a la fleur de sel. Pierre Herme also had classics, but were often more whimsically named: infiniment caramel and infiniment chocolat, for example, but then a couple more unique combinations (like the Menthe et Petit Pois that I'd tried and the Asperges Verte & Huile de Noisette or even the Huile d'Olive & Vanille.
Which one's better? I guess that's a personal preference. I say, why choose one over the other? Be like me and have both! I already promised the guy at Pierre Herme that I would go back tomorrow and give him the verdict on the Rose flavoured macaron (I was telling him that I usually don't like flower flavoured pastries, but he says that it's one of the best of the Maison. Does that mean I have to return to Laduree again too?
I know, I lead a hard life.

Warning signs

I know I've spent too much time 'appreciating' French fashion when I start thinking that items in Hermes seem reasonably priced.
The funniest part about my trying to knock some sense into me was that I didn't think I should buy anything because I don't think I have enough room in my suitcase nor carry-on for the lovely boite orange that the purchase would come with. Ha ha ha ha ha!
And if you think I'd leave that box and just take the merchandise as is to conserve space, you'd be crazy.

Reality TV everywhere!

I watched Secret Story last night. I used to catch it every so often when I lived in Europe. It's the French version of Big Brother and what sets it apart from the other versions of the show is that each member has a 'secret' and housemates are trying to figure out what each others secrets are.
When I get back to the city, I'll have to catch up on the current season of Big Brother US. I would also watch Big Brother UK (which was also rather amusing) back in my days in Europe and also more recently through the internet. I'm not sure that they're going to have anymore season of the show.
Anyway, reality TV is popular all over the world it seems. I wonder if this trend is here to stay?

31, rue Cambon

I finally visited 31, rue Cambon. It might not be quite as expansive and flashy as the Louis Vuitton store on the Champs Elysees but it is classy and chic. Just like the Chanel brand.
I mean, in LV, going up the escalator to the 2nd floor really feels like you're traveling to another world, which you kind of are because I'm always blown away by the clothing. This time, I decided to try on a really cute coat from the previous season. It was amazing, of course. White with a yellow and black pattern. It looked amazing with the all-black outfit I had on that day.
Anyway, back to Chanel. Similar to LV, I was drooling over the clothing. It's truly spectacular what those folks do. The fabrics, the structure, the craftsmanship. Wowza. Oh, that that closet of classic tweed jackets. Drooool. Just like dining as a fine restaurant, the service is incredible. The whole experience of shopping in a boutique is just so agreable.
I wonder if I will ever purchase anything from Chanel. I definitely treat myself to nice things on rare occasions, but Chanel has never been in my realm of possibility. There are certain design houses that I will consider, but I could never justify Chanel. Maybe in the future...

Degoutant

Vu en L'Avenue des Champs Elysees: La queue a entrer LV etait plus courte que la queue pour entrer dans A&F.

Writing from the beyond...

Just kidding.
So I survived the jump.
The freefall was bananas. I don't know how to describe it. It wasn't like anything that I had thought it would be. I don't remember the first 5-15 seconds of it. I remember only getting nervous when I saw everyone else jump out of the plane (we were the last to go), then I remember sitting on the edge of the door, I remember the moment that we jumped (well really, I just kind of tumbled out) and then there's a void of memories for a little while.
My guy was kind enough to have us do a backflip out, so I think that added to my confusion.
Nonetheless, as I said, it was amazing. The freefall was crazy, and as soon as the parachute was deployed, I knew that I wanted to do it again.
I found out that when you're falling at a speed of 180km/h, you can't hear yourself scream. And your mouth gets dry rather quickly.
I'll post more about it later. And about everything else that I've been doing.
Obviously, I'm having a wonderful time out here.

Good golly - today, I jumped out of a plane.

Jump day

Today seems like a good day to jump out of a plane, non?

A return to Chanel

In 1997, I went to Europe for the first time. I stayed in Leysin, Switzerland for most of July to take a French course and then ended the trip with a 5 days in Paris. This trip played a big contribution towards me wanting to return to Europe and start my career there as well as to further travel the area.
The preceding sentence sounds kind of funny in my head. I've been thinking in French for the past couple of days, so I think I'm starting to mix up my English words and even stranger, the voice that I hear in my head has a Swiss accent. I've never had that before.
Anyway, during this trip in '97 I went on a day trip to Geneva. We walked around the city, were the ultimate tourists, took lots of pictures and had a grand old time. It was raining that day.
We were walking by all of these fancy shops and I announced to the group that we should go into Chanel. At the time, I had never been in such a store before and never considered doing so. I just thought, well, I'm in Geneva - it's Chanel, I'll never have the chance to be in a store like this again, I want to see what it's like. Everyone else protested, but I convinced them to go inside with me. We were wet from the rain, very young looking and clearly not ready to purchase anything in the store.
I remember walking around the store in awe. I didn't dare touch anything. A saleslady followed me. Literally. When I went upstairs, she was two steps behind. Although I was under her watchful eye, I decided to touch (gasp!) a piece of clothing. I wanted to know how much something in a store like Chanel would cost. I looked at the price of a skirt. I had a mini-freak out. I quickly retreated from the store and the saleslady stared me down some more.
Clearly it was an experience that I wouldn't soon forget.

Almost 15 years have passed and I returned to that same Chanel store. By now a seasoned fashion house browser (definitely not a seasoned customer...another 15 years?!? Ha.), I calmly greeted and thanked security as he opened the door for me (what service!), took a look at all of the wonderful items on display (still dreaming of a 2.55), giggled to myself about the customers in the store and the price tags of their outfits and accessories and then made my way up that same staircase from all of those years ago.
I marveled at the beautiful clothing, took a look at the price of a skirt (and was still shocked at the amount that I saw) and giggled at the lack of shadow that followed me around this time around. I suppose the last time, we were the only ones in the store whereas this time there were many other customers to tend to. And maybe I'm less of an anomaly than I was back then?

Clearly, it was an amusing visit for me and a nice trip down memory lane, which as you all probably know, I love.

I also learned something else from my recent visit to the shop. Chanel boutiques will also markdown items by 50% during sale season. Strange.

Hot weather everywhere

I hear it's hot in the city. It's hot here too.
The temperature itself isn't too crazy, but the altitude makes the sun mighty fierce.
I got my annual ridiculous sunburn and I was trying to stay in the shade and indoors as much as possible.
It's just too hard when you want to walk around town and take a dip in the lake.
It's such a strange feeling being back. I don't feel like I ever left. The train ride into town felt like I was taking the daily 510 streetcar to school.
If only it were true.

Back to old routines

Shortly after my arrival, I headed to Denner and bought a chestnut yogurt and Rivella. The creamy yogurt (3.5%) was lovely. Yes, it's not quite as creamy as the yogurt that I got from the fromagerie (that stuff was crazy) but still really amazing.
Life is good.
I'll write about my trip over (teaser: Executive Class!), adventures in Munchen and such soon.

Creepy or not so creepy?

I was asked to do one of those full body scans at the airport today. After beeping when going through the regular scanner, the GTAA (I mean, Toronto Pearson) worker told me I had two options. And then proceeded to tell me that I would be going to the full body scanner. Weird.
I was told it wasn't an x-ray scanner, so that made me feel vaguely better. I did ask to make sure there would be not crazy gusts of air or anything as I was wearing a skirt. Hey, call me completely naive, but I remember being very much caught off-guard when going into that bomb detector at the base of the CN Tower.
I wasn't allowed to stand with my natural stance, but instructed to place my feet on the assigned spots (wider enough than shoulder width to make me feel more self conscious than I was already feeling). And then, the awkward, put-your-hands-in-the-air thing was great too. Anyway, me being me, I wanted to see what kind of image the scan produced. Apparently, the person that was looking at my scan (walkie-talkie distance away, because apparently they're not supposed to see who I am and don't have any indicating data about my identity) said there was still something of question on me. It was only at that moment that my scan popped up on the screen and my accompanying Toronto Pearson worker and I critiqued the scan wondering why there was a big red blob on my hip. (By the way, the scan just looked like a gingerbread man cutout.)
My metallic looking (but actually made of plastic) buttons were the only thing that the Toronto Pearson worker could think of. Still not completely convinced, in the end, I did get a localized pat-down. I'll bet she was super impressed with my rock hard oblique. Glad to know that even with all of this fancy technology there are still glitches.
So a very ex

BYOB(lanket)

I'm quite excited for this summer's line-up of free outdoor films.
Here are some of the locations are super convenient for me AND have films that I love:
David Pecaut Square
Harbourfront Centre
Yonge-Dundas Square
I think I will be spending many a Wednesday evening in August at David Pecaut Square (was Metro Square - see, I told you there's a lot of cool things happening there!)

My first auction

I think this was the first auction that I've attended. I'm not including the auctions for charity that take place at school and I'm also not including silent auctions.
I thought for my first foray into the auction world, I should go with something pretty splashy. Thus, I attended Waddington's - An Important Auction of Dresses from the Collection of Diana, Princess of Wales.
This past Wednesday, I wrote of attending the viewing to suss out the situation and to see the dresses in person. I'd actually seen them before, back in 2007 when I visited Kensington Palace and they were on display there. Still, they are beautiful and looking at evening gowns isn't too hard on the eyes.
At the preview, I chatted with two of Waddington's staff. In my previous post, I talked about the sincerity and welcome that one gave me. Enough to dismiss an reservations about attending the auction the following night. The other staffer was pleasant enough, but when I
chatted with her about the history of the dresses and the consignor, it seemed a little bit more forced. Maybe it would have helped if I had done my homework. Turns out the consignor, Maureen Dunkel had decided to part with the dresses (partly) because she's facing bankruptcy. While I don't doubt this fact, I'm not completely willing to think ill of her like some of the online accounts seem to want you to do. It's good press, right? I was told that the timing of the decision coincided with the announcement that Will and Kate were engaged and that Maureen thought that this chapter with Diana is ending as Will and Kate's chapter is starting. The date of the auction had apparently been decided prior to the announcement of Will and Kate's North American tour.
The venue of the auction was rather simple. Waddington's is moving to a new location soon, so as a first time attendee, who knows if the current room is usually a little bit more refined, but I doubt that's the case. I suppose simple and understated isn't a bad thing.
That seemed to be the theme of the entire night. Sauf les robes and some well dressed attendees, it was a pretty tame night.
The 14 lots came and went and all but one went under or at the bottom end of the estimates. The "Travolta"-dress went for $800 000. This price, however, does not include the commission and taxes, which means that buyers will be paying about 30% more than their bidding price.
Duncan McLean acted as the auctioneer for the night and at times seemed to be pleading with the bidders to get in the action. Most bidders (if not all - I couldn't tell for sure, because the bidders were
ridiculously discrete and I wasn't seated at a good vantage point to see who was doing what) were in attendance or at least had someone doing their bidding for them through the phone. There was a table set up with phones and computers for Waddington's staff to take bids from those who were not in attendance, and although each time I looked over, they seemed to be whispering into their phones, I didn't see any hands waving.
Of course I don't know for sure how many people were actually there to observe. Obviously, I had no intent in bidding, and I could gather that there were many other people there in the same mindset. I did see a couple folks who had evidence that they were registered bidders, but again, if they were getting in on the action, they were doing it very subtly.
There was lots of press and media presence. It seemed like it was a big deal. And there was media coverage leading up to the event as well, but I wonder why they didn't go for the estimates. And I wonder if Waddington's is disappointed with the turn-out or final prices. Mr. McLean made comments about how short the auction was and how the prices were a steal.
Of course I don't know who ended up with the dresses and for what purpose they bought them, but maybe we'll find out in due course. Perhaps a museum will acquire one/two/a few or maybe someone will just enjoy seeing the dress(es) in their closet.
The mystique. The intrigue!

So the auction was a neat experience. No crazy bidding wars at this one, but there are more auctions to come, so maybe I will experience a frenzy of bids at a future event. There are two this week that sound kind if interesting! There is way too much going on in the city.

I wish I were more tech-savvy

Although I know how to post pictures, videos and do the most basic html codes ever, I kind of wish I could do more. I like the colour scheme and template of my blog, but I wish I could tweak it just a little bit. I've tried to tamper with the coding of my template, but it doesn't seem to work in any way. I don't want to make any significant change or anything, just improve an already great looking (in my opinion) page.
I'm wondering if it's time to move to another hosting site. I started at livejournal an then found that I enjoyed blogger a little bit more. Just today, I looked up WordPress and tried to see its pros and cons.
Blogger has new templates that allow for more user customization, but I do like my current background (colours and pictures). Also, I haven't printed out my blog for my book yet. I'm scared that if I leave this current one, as it's an older style, I won't be able to go back if I don't like the newer ones.