Talking about the Man

[Reading:] I tend to be a binge reader. I'll read nothing for months and then reading dozens of books in a short span of time. Usually this happens around Christmas and the influx of new books that season tends to bring. Right now however it feels like Christmas in June as I've discovered the literature section at the University library. All these books for free! It's the Kazaa of books! I'm mean I've used libraries before, but they've always been tainted with the stench of schoolwork. I've taken full advantage of it, reading some mighty fine books the past week including Don Delillo's Mao II, Julian Barnes' Flaubert's Parrot, Rick Moody's Demonology, Wayne Johnston's Colony of Unrequited Dreams, and Ursula le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea trilogy (plus the prequel and the recent addition to the series). It's really nice to be reading again and I've heartily enjoyed each one. My Dad also sent me as Hubert Aquin's The Next Episode (the Canada reads book) as an earlier birthday present so I'm up to my ears in novels. It's excellent.

[Watching:] Took advantage of the $2 Blue Jay tickets to go see them get destroyed by Chicago. I've been to two games this year and the combined score has been Toronto-1, Opponents-19. And they've actually been doing pretty well otherwise. I've got another set of tickets from the "A little TO" package deal, which I plan to redeem when the Expos come at the end of the month. In other watching news, I saw Man without a Past on Friday, which is this oddly beautiful Finnish movie, about a man who has lost his memory. There were some wonderful moments and some fanastic cinematography, but I'm not sure if the movie was equal to the sum of its parts. There was something lacking overall. Man without a Past is not to be confused with Man on a Train, which I'm also looking forward to seeing. (Also looking forward to: Winged Desire--a movie from the point of view of birds, and Whale Rider).

[Listening:] www.cdbaby.com, the world's cutest online music store, lived up to their reputation and sent a really cute email about my experiences with them including such lines as "Did the package arrive fast? Or did the postman take it home and listen to it first?" But the musical experience of the week was of course the reunion of Superfriendz on Saturday. They've got a whole new album coming out this summer and it sounds like it going to be excellent. It was fun too seeing Matt Murphy having to share the limelight again. And seeing the crowd go crazy for "10 lbs." Album comes out on the 24th of June!

[Waiting for:] Next wednesday when I fly to Glasgow. Current plans are to go climb Ben Lomond. Yay!

[Also waiting for:] Renee, a recent migrant in Uganda, has made her first small steps towards blogdom. Looking forward to reading about her experiences there soon!