A merry little Christmas

Christmas came and went as a small, mostly quiet holiday.  In what has been a busy December, I'll gladly take sitting around eating more than I should, listening to music, and playing cards (not at the same time) over some big to-do.

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew checked in via Skype from their vacation in Germany.  My other two brothers were here. Without any request my mom made monkey bread for this morning's breakfast.  She also made rolled cookies that had been her mother's recipe (I think).  I remember these usually being made around Christmas when I was a kid and had considered making them myself because it's been ages since I've had them.

In a day without anything scheduled except for church at 10 a.m., it was odd how packed the day was.  My time here for the holidays is more than half over.  It's zoomed by.  But I suspect that's a good thing.

Hope you also had a good Christmas, whether it was a big production or little more than time home with family. 





  

The night before

Taking smart phone photos in church is probably something to be frowned upon, but here's a little something to wish everyone a merry Christmas tomorrow.  So I meant well!

Sunday afternoon in The Jungle

I've been to my share of Major League Baseball and National Hockey League games, but when it comes to the National Football League, I can count the number of times I've attended a game on one hand.  The tickets are more expensive (if available), there are fewer games, and the weather often can be less than hospitable.  It doesn't help that may favorite team, the Cincinnati Bengals, has not been very good for most of my teen and adult years, which lessens the desire to bother springing for tickets.

Before today I'd been to an NFL game twice.  I saw the Bengals host the Detroit Lions in 1989 and Baltimore Ravens in 2004.  A friend won tickets to today's game against the Browns and invited me, so add a third game to my list.

For late November the weather certainly could have been worse.  It also could have been better.  The sky spit rain intermittently, and when the wind came through, it could get chilly.  I suppose I could have dressed warmer, although I was wearing the hat I knit in Bengals colors last year.

I'd been to Paul Brown Stadium once before, but I had little memory of the stadium's interior.  Maybe it's because the building is not owned by the team or maybe because it's used for a limited number of events per year, but the concourse lacks personality, especially compared to the baseball stadiums I've visited.  Is that how most football-specific stadiums are?  (While I haven't been inside, the one in Dallas most assuredly is not.)  It isn't a big deal, but unlike baseball team homes, this one was less than awe-inspiring.

The NFL's product is very friendly for the TV viewer.  To a certain extent that's to the detriment of the fans at the game.  The stadium experience was lacking in some areas.  Since our seats were in the corner of an end zone, there were times we were better off watching the action on the scoreboard to have a better idea of what was happening on some plays.  The length of TV timeouts is more deeply felt as you stand around waiting for the action to resume.  Although out-of-town scores and highlights are displayed, one feels sealed off from much else at an NFL game.

Those reasons, in addition to those I mentioned in the first paragraph, are probably enough to keep me from ever being a regular attendee at NFL games.  (That the team is a two-hour drive away factors in too.)  Don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed the time at the game, which was a good one in general.  The Bengals won in semi-dramatic fashion with a late field goal at the end where we sat.  I definitely won't complain about that.  Unlike other league's games, though, I don't know that seeing them in person is the best way to experience them.  Weird, that.

Black Friday

The appeal of diving into the mess of day after Thanksgiving shopping eludes me.  Fine, there are deals to be had, although I wonder if they're often as good as they're perceived to be.  Camping out a couple days for one of them strikes me as absurd.  Even doing it once "for the experience" doesn't interest me.  To each their own, I suppose.

That said, I did use this Friday to stock up on something I needed: rest and relaxation.  There was more football and basketball to be watched on TV after a day spent also doing much of the same.  There were cards to be played with my family.  There were naps to be taken.

Shoppers, you have it your way, and I'll have it my way.

Turkey Day

I know I've been quiet here the last few days.  It's been a hectic run-up to Thanksgiving.

Speaking of running, I wanted to fit in one more race this year if I could, and it so happened that there was a 4-mile race today in Fort Wayne, which is relatively close to where my parents live.  I got up way to early on a holiday and ran with perhaps close to 3500 folks this brisk morning. 

Some dressed for the occasion, meaning Thanksgiving-related outfits or hats were donned.  (I saw one person in a turkey suit and another in a chicken outfit.)  There was even a real, live turkey available for photo ops, which you see above in all its blurry, smart phone photo glory.  That turkey was remarkably calm, especially when considering the number of people around it in the gymnasium's lobby.

The hilly route was mostly in a cemetery and enough of a challenge on this gray, foggy morning.  I felt like mostly good throughout the run and kept what I felt like was a good pace, although I'm sure it dropped off around the middle.

I was hoping to crack 44 or 45 minutes, but I finished the course in 46:46.  (Hey, I beat around 1500 participants.)  Having looked more closely at the results and the course, I see that it was a bit more than four miles long, so my 4-mile time was 45:56.  I feel pretty good about that.

I had my dad drive me to the race, and I was glad that he got to see me finish.  I don't think anyone else in my family has run in a race like this, so it meant something to me to be able to show the result of what I've been working hard to do to get in shape.  While I still have a ways to go, I can take satisfaction after a run like this one that I'm doing OK.

And while I didn't pig out at lunch, this made it easier to justify eating a little extra for Thanksgiving lunch.   

Pit stop

On my last full day in Texas for this trip, what else could I do but get some barbecue?  My brother vouched for the excellence of Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell, and he was dead on.  With the way I've eaten down here, it's a good thing I'm leaving on Tuesday.

For the meat you order by the pound.  Be careful.

The chicken poppers--mesquite smoked chicken wrapped with green pepper, onion, and bacon--were unbelievably good.  I may regret having to work off this meal, but it was delicious.
 

Even the taxidermied animals are excited about the Rangers and their bid to win the World Series.

Game 4

As a lifelong baseball fan, what a thrill it was to be at a World Series game. My team wasn't playing, and the seat, while certainly satisfactory, was not exactly close. It didn't matter. Here I was at one of only six or seven of these games that will be played, and I'm there with one of my brothers and my eleven-month-old nephew. (I know that sounds like a bad idea for the little one to be there. I said as much. Nevertheless, the little guy was really well behaved.)

Although a Dallas Cowboys regular season game was taking place across the parking lot, the ballpark was predictably packed with folks eager to see the Texas Rangers even the series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Zooey Deschanel was there to sing the National Anthem (and promote her sitcom on the game's network broadcaster).

There were flags, including this big one on the field during pre-game...

...and a former baseball great (Nolan Ryan) and former President (George W. Bush).

The sellout crowd went nuts when Mike Napoli hit a three run home run to put the Rangers ahead 4-0.

All in all, it was a beautiful night in the mid to upper 60s. I'm sure there's more I can say, but it's been plenty of work to get this posted after tonight's game.

Baby, water gardens, birds, tacos

Babies are shameless, especially ones who are related.

The Fort Worth Water Gardens seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.  Pretty though.

Especially in a secluded spot like this one.

Looking out at downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

I could not believe how loud these birds (grackles?) were, let alone the number of them.

Yeah, I had to eat here. That logo!

Food and family

I could write up some thoughts about things I observed or pondered today, but this photo pretty much summarizes it all.  This was a travel day--I'm now in between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas where my brother and sister-in-law live--and it's been marked by the food I've eaten and the company I've kept, namely my nephew.

The last time I saw my nephew was at Christmas, about a month after he was born.  We got along famously, and I showed him off to my parents via Skype.

I've been doing a good job of eating sensibly...but not today.  In addition to some airport barbecue in Memphis, I had my first visit to the fabled In-N-Out Burger.  I enjoyed a double double animal style (but without cheese), fries, and a Neapolitan shake.

It was quite a busy day but a good one.  And just think, I still have a World Series game to attend while I'm down here.

Backposting

I've gone back and posted photos and a few words on my trip that I didn't have time for when I was actually in Toronto.  So, you can scroll down or use this handy list of links:

-September 8
-September 9
-September 10
-September 11
-September 12
-September 13

I still have two other days of backposting to do--those would be the days where I essentially came home and slept--but these posts should give you a taste of my time at the movies in Canada.

Bonus day

The original plan was to return home this morning, but neither of us really wanted to leave.  So, I ended up being able to stick around for four more films, including the one I most wanted to see at the festival.  That also meant leaving around 8:45 p.m. and arriving home at 4:00 a.m. on September 14th.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

Up top you see the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the two restaurants--the O&B Canteen on ground level, Luma on the second floor--attached to it.

 Here's a look at the swanky VISA Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre.

And here's Damsels in Distress director Whit Stillman and cast members Carrie MacLemore, Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, and Analeigh Tipton.

With that, I bid Toronto adieu.  I had a wonderful time and hated to go.  Hopefully I'll be back no later than a year from now.

Eat and run

If there's only one time for one meal a day while I'm at the film festival, make it count, right?  Big Smoke Burger on King St. E. fit the bill today.

Business as usual

I'd like to be sampling Toronto's cuisine more than I've had time for.  Basically it's been a donut and one meal, but I was able to sit and enjoy my lunch today at the O&B Canteen, which is next to the festival's hub, the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

There's really no reason for posting another view of my lunch other than to give you a little bit better sense of the surroundings.

And then I saw the new film starring Val Kilmer and directed by that guy who made The Godfather.

If this all seems frivolous on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, well, that's how I spent the day.  I'll admit that it was kind of a relief not to be around what I imagine was inescapable reflecting on the tragedy.  The festival acknowledged it with a well-intended but ultimately misguided short that preceded each film.  September 11 falls during the festival every year and affected the tenor of it in 2001, not that I was at it then.  So bringing it up made sense, even if the piece about it was, umm, awkward.

Off the red carpet

The film festival up here has its share of glitz and glamour.  I've seen a few filmmakers on the streets but haven't walked by any stars in the normal course of attending films.  I happened to be near the Moneyball red carpet on Friday and tried to peek through the throng to see if I could see anyone I may have caught a glimpse of Brad Pitt, but I couldn't tell you for sure if it was him.  That was kind of a crazy scene.

I am getting to see directors, actors, and actresses on a pretty regular basis when they introduce films and talk about them after they've played.  Up above you see the director and star of Trishna.  I don't expect you to know who Michael Winterbottom is, but you may recognize Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, or L'Oreal ads.

The screening for Melancholia had a red carpet, although for those of us lined up to get inside, there wasn't much gawking we could do as we were ushered inside.  For us the star power was reserved for the stage.  Showing up for the premiere were Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgård, Kiefer Sutherland, and Udo Kier.

I'm not up here for the celebrity spotting, but it is kind of exciting to see these folks.  Coming out of Melancholia I was about ten feet from the red carpet for the next film and caught good looks of Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks.  Yep, I guess I'm at a big, international event.

Say what?

I know a fair number of people who are up here at the festival, although some of them I've never met.  I have an iPhone to keep me connected with people, but while I'm in the city (or in this country, period) I'm at the mercy of those places pumping out free wi-fi to try and arrange meet-ups.

Crazily enough, I've attended six films so far and not sat by myself for any of them.  Today I had lunch with a local at C'est What, met someone else at another film by virtue of each of us describing our clothing on Twitter, and ran into someone I know from home at the last one.

On King Street W. on the walk back to the hotel I passed by a promotional trailer--literally!--that's pictured at the top of this post.  It was a bit strange to see someone in a hazmat suit attending to someone having a seizure on a gurney, but Contagion doesn't just promote itself.

Quite a start

I knew I'd have to wait in a line of some sort to pick up my tickets, and I calculated at least an hour when backtiming for my arrival in Toronto.  With my first film at 6:00 p.m. at a theater that is approximately a twenty to thirty minute walk from the festival box office and calculating that I want to be in line there by 5:15, then I figured I ought to get into town by 3:00 or 3:30.

The plan was to leave at 6:30 a.m.  I slept maybe four restless hours before finally giving up and getting up at 4:45.  It's not the way to start what would prove to be a long day--I was up about 22 straight hours--but the extra time gave me the comfort of knowing I had everything ready to go and not being in a hurry.


Because neither my friend nor I were hungry and we went through a stretch where there wasn't anywhere compelling to stop to eat, we made fantastic time with just one bathroom stop and another one for gas and its weird Canadian pricing.  Cents per liter?!

Arriving at the downtown hotel at 2:00 p.m. would then seem to give me time to breathe.  The room wasn't ready, so I figured the best bet was to get the tickets and then figure things out from there.  As it turned out, the extra time was essential.  After walking to the festival box office and picking up the ticket package with ease, I then found one of those quirks of the system.  Picking up the individual tickets I ordered meant getting into a different line.  (I could also turn in my vouchers and do any exchanges in this line.)  That line only took, oh, about 90 minutes to get through.

Since I was not going to be heading back to the hotel--and would not be there until about 2:30 a.m.--I began heading to the first theater.  At this point I realized I had no Canadian currency.  I popped into a Hilton on the way and got money changed at an absurd rate.  (Nice little racket there with the fee everyone charges.  It was the same changing money at a bank.)

And then I saw three movies.

Did I mention all I'd had to eat all day was a cinnamon roll and a decaf coffee?  After the third movie I did get a slice of pizza at 2:00 a.m. and ate it while walking the twenty minutes or so to the hotel...where the room was not in my name and I did not have a key.

Luckily I didn't have any problems at the hotel and finally collapsed into bed by 2:45.  Quite a start to the festival.

Back

You can forgive a guy for not doing much in the way of daily blogging when he's coming off six days of a fairly intense vacation, at least in terms of movement, and driving more than five hundred miles today, right? Let me put it this way. I think the earliest I was back home for any evening was about 10:30, and that was on the first night when I was running on five hours of sleep.

Let me put it this way: three professional baseball games, two Broadway plays, likely somewhere in the area of 1200 miles driven, and probably a few hundred city blocks walked. I've been a busy bee...and I don't really feel like saying much more than that at the moment.

Sunday in the park and more

In an effort to make my last day of this trip to New York City count, I sacrificed sleep so I could get into midtown Manhattan early enough to get a good spot in the TKTS line. I'd decided to forsake a Mets game at Citi Field in favor or another play. Professional baseball games are readily available to me; Broadway productions are not. Since most of the performances--and all of the ones I was interested in--were matinees, I needed to be up and about fairly early.

I got my top pick, which surprisingly has some knitting content in it...but more on that in a moment.

With my ticket in hand I set out north for Central Park. I didn't have anywhere in particular I wanted to see. I just wanted to get a good sense of the place. I walked around for close to 90 minutes and had little sense of where I was in relation to anything. When I thought I surely was close to the Upper West Side, I was instead over by the Upper East Side. I entered at 60th Street and emerged at W. 90th and Central Park West, if that tells you anything.

The park was gorgeous, and I wish I'd had more time to explore (or get lost). A much-needed lunch beckoned, and I had 45 city blocks south to walk. Sure, I could have taken the subway, but I figured I needed the exercise and could see the city more this way.

I went to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which stars Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette. Yes, Harry Potter is in it. He seemed to be quite a draw, if the raucous reception and crowds by the stage door are good indicators. He's fine in the play, although he still has a lot of growth to undergo as an actor. (Also, he's short. Maybe it's exaggerated when he stands next to Larroquette, but he doesn't seem to be very tall.)

Anyway, in the play Larroquette's character is a more or less secret knitter to alleviate stress. It gets some laughs, especially when Radcliffe's savvy character pretends to be a knitter too to hit it off with the company president.

I could say much more about this day in New York City, but as has been the theme with this trip, I'm getting to bed pretty late. Since I'm driving home Monday, I need to get to bed and thus wrap up.

This has been a very busy vacation, to say the least, but I've had a lot of fun. Before I left I was kind of feeling like I was ready to be home. I haven't missed it while I've been away, and I'd love to have more time in NYC. Still, I'll be glad to be back at my place by this point Monday night.

Saturday in the city

Another full day in the big city. I had a couple locals I met at a film festival who helped show me around, which made for what felt like a bit more authentic experience of New York. Above you'll see the food truck event at the South Street Seaport where we began the day. Some of the lines were awfully long, especially at the Korean trucks, so one had to pick wisely.

I wanted to see some of Brooklyn, and Prospect Park seemed like a good reason for going to the borough and getting a breather from the throngs in the city.

And since I need to get up relatively early so I can get back to The Big Apple on Sunday, I'm going to wrap today's post here. More details and ruminations on what's been a busy and fun trip to follow.

Contrasts

I stopped at this rest area in Delaware simply because it meant I could remove all ambiguity over whether I could count it as a state I've been to. (I drove through it once before but never got out of the car.) I planted my feet on the ground and bought breakfast there. So cross it off the list for certain.

I left early--and on five hours' sleep--so I could get to this place in time and stand here in Times Square. It's the TKTS line. Long story short, I got a half price ticket to see Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. It was a terrific show, but I'm wiped out. As with so much else on this trip, time's a-wasting and not there for a-writing.