Random Thoughts

I See Dead People

Body Worlds 2 is being displayed at the Ontario Science Centre from until February 2006. I went today with some friends and we had a great time. It was graphic and engrossing. Highlights were longitudinally sliced cadavers and artfully plastinated poses designed to reveal every detail of their internal anatomy.

The venue was very crowded. We attended Saturday at 2pm. A weekday session might have been more restful. However, we weren't rushed through the exhibit at all and had ample time to see everything.

Certainly some pieces were more instructional than others. Some pieces were simply artfully posed (such as a figure skating pair and other sports poses) while others were very impressive and educational - such as a figure that had been exploded and suspended by poly threads, organs displaying various pathologies and a pregnant woman with fetuses in various stages of development.

I'm waiting to see if I get permission for some press photos to post here.

Of course, what else was there to do after seeing corpses but eat? And eat and eat and eat! We went to The Mandarin after for an all you can eat bonanza. I ate myself almost literally sick. It's pretty pathetic, it happens every time.

Impressionists at the AGO

Went to see the Turner/Monet/Whistler exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario after work today. It was... impressive! (Ba-da-ching! Oh, quit yer groaning, it was funny.) The audio tour was really well done too - I highly recommend it.

It was interesting to see how they represented atmospheric effects with oil and watercolor washes. Although many critics at the time were outraged by the lack of detail of the Impressionist style, the paintings are positively realistic compared to the abstract art of today.

I bought a cheap print of a Turner watercolor and a postcard of a Whistler Nocturne. Monet's flourescent oranges didn't turn out at all well reproduced, so I passed on them.

Taste of Thailand

Went to a Thai cultural festival in Nathans Phillips Square. It was actually pretty small, so we didn't spend too much time there. One of the really cool things were the impressive fruit and vegetable carvings.

I also got a sample of some spring rolls, odd chicken balls in tapioca and shrimp balls wrapped around sugar cane. The chicken satays were pretty ordinary tasting.

Musical: The Producers

The Producers is a musical at the Canon Theater (the old Pantages) about a down-and-out Broadway producer who collaborates with his accountant in an unethical scheme to make some quick cash.

Hysterically funny and very well executed, the plot is pretty predictable. Set design and costuming was amazingly elaborate, with break-away sets using a lot of forced perspective, lighting and mirror tricks.

All of the cast gave great performances, both vocally and comedically. The lyrics were witty and the themes were very irreverant. Musically, it wasn't so memorable, though the orchestra gave a lively performance.

Definitely worth seeing, even with the slightly expensive ticket seats.
$125, whew! Won't be doing that often!

Eternal Egypt at the ROM

Today I went to see the Eternal Egypt (time sensitive) exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum with a couple of friends.

It was pretty awe inspiring. The Egyptian empires lasted over 3000 years - longer than our modern civilisations. At the same time, though, the drawings were strangely stagnant. While the sculpture showed development and variation, the drawings hardly changed at all for more than 2000 years.

Review: Arma-Get-It-On

After going to Dhaba for food, we went to see Second City comedy show called Arma-get-it-on -- which was a lot of fun. Actually, going to this performance was the real reason we went downtown.... finding Dhaba was just fortuitious circumstance.

The theatre was small and very compact - from our last minute, back row, corner seats we still had a pretty good view, though it would've been nice to be closer. The seating is arranged in groups of 4 around a tiny table, something to keep in mind if you're going in a group. You can order reasonably priced food and drink during the performances, though I didn't.

The skits were well presented and very funny for the most part, mostly having to do with current events and pop culture. I really enjoyed the songs - particularly a tongue-in-cheek apology song to America that was similar to South Park's "Blame Canada", though from a different point of view.

For those of you with no money, the players do improv at the end of the day's last show. It's free and you can just walk in off the street. The improv was a lot of fun to watch. It wasn't based on very much audience participation, but it was fun to see what the players came up with off the cuff. It's too bad I don't live around there, it would be interesting to just walk in for the improv late at night.

Bottom line: it was a fun evening, and definitely worth a try. I'll probably be back to see the next production.

Definitely park across from Dhaba and go there for dinner, first! Or even better, go for the lunch buffet (a better deal) and you can eat a light dinner at the theatre.

Second City Toronto

Renaissance Festival 2003

Click any image for larger view.

The Ontario Renaissance Festival takes place in a constructed "village" west of Toronto that is set in 16th century England. This was the first year that I've been there. Here are a few photos.

There are a few sword shops (above, left) where several of my friends bought blades of varying authenticity.

There was also a lot of live entertainment - musicians, magicians and comedians - on several stages. The Daring Devilinis (link may not work) were funny and entertaining as they juggled and swallowed swords and fire. Zoltan the Adequate ("Brilliant? Amazing? No, just adequate.") had an entertaining magic act that was quite risque.

The Canadian Raptor Conservancy displayed several birds of prey, including a vulture, owl and hawk (pictured left).

Fun food (not the kind I'd review, but good enough for outdoors eating... of course I took pictures, but they're boring...) like ribs and french fries were eaten while taking in the jousting tournament - which seemed more realistic than the ones shown at the Medieval Times restaurant, though less story-based.

Numerous craft demonstrations were on display, including the glass blowing demonstration (pictured left). Dozens of actors in costume wandered around the village, getting into brawls and conversations with each other and the visitors.

All in all, it was a pretty fun day!