Entertainment & Leisure

Molto Bene !

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About three years ago, I told Wiseguy that we should move to Venice.  No, I don’t speak Italian.  I don’t have any Italian friends.  (I do have some Italian relatives…but I non parlo Italian).  I think Vespas are just the coolest ride ever!  I love any and all pasta dishes.  I have an absolute addiction to pizza.  Your question is most likely, why Venice and not another Italian city? 

Back in 1989, I went on a gondola ride.  I was enamoured with the view of the old, tall buildings.  The gondolier talked about the history of the city.  He pointed out historical landmarks.  He spoke of the Venetians, past and present.  I loved the way we glided slowly through the water.  (Mind you, at that time it, it smelled more like a sewer than the sea.)  I loved how the gondoliers would sing when they got to an intersection to let other gondoliers know that they were approaching.  My mind began to wander.  I imagined myself sitting at one of the cafes sipping a glass of wine, watching all the tourists rush about.  I pictured myself living in one of the apartment buildings.  I dreamt of going out daily to get fresh baked bread.  I would learn the language and speak it fluently.  I would be a Venetian.  The ride ended, but my dream never did.  

Although we haven’t moved to Venice (yet), I never gave up on several of my wishes.  I wished that one day, Wiseguy and I would go on a gondola ride together.  Yes.  So sweet and romantic (and soooo corny…but that’s me)  This year, my wish came true. 

On our trip to Europe, I got to celebrate my birthday in style.  A trip to Venice and a gondola ride.  Molto bene!  I had told Wiseguy many times that he would enjoy the gondola ride.  He had heard that the ride was big bucks and that you floated through stinky, sewer water.  I informed him that,over the past few years, they had been cleaning up the waterways.  I hinted that we wouldn’t know how good or bad it was until we got there and checked it out.  The debate continued.  In the end, birthday wishes (or maybe his curiosity) won out. 

After the long drive from Croatia to Venice, Wiseguy recommended a wee bit of rest away from the crowds.  And there it was.  Wish number two.  We found a little cafe on one of the side streets.  It was away from the din of the tourists.  We had a glass of wine and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.  Our senses also got to enjoy the wonderfully, aromatic smell of fresh pasta sauce as large plates of spaghetti floated by us via waitress.  Even better, the smell of fresh baked pizza wafting through the air.  What a beautiful moment it was.  But I digress.  Time to find us a gondolier!

We wandered back to the centre of the square and saw three gondoliers.  How did we know?  Well, they each had on black pants, a striped blue and white shirt and a lovely straw gondolier hat with a blue ribbon on it.  We picked the middle man and followed him down a side street.  His knowledge of the English language was excellent!  Better still, it had that little lilt of the Italian accent as he spoke.  Melodica voce!  We wound through the little side streets, passing little cafes as we walked.  We got to an opening and there it was.  A shiny, black gondola.  It had metal horses on the sides and large fancy tassles.  There were two velvet covered chairs and a velvet bench seat with a colourful blanket draped casually on it.  We boarded, got comfy, and then we were off! 

Our gondolier, Sebastian, has been a gondolier for 17 years.  His father retired and the horses and pictures and chairs on the gondola were originally from his dad’s gondola.  How wonderful.  He sang out little songs as we neared corners.  He waved happily to his fellow gondoliers,  “Ciao Mario!”  We heard about how Venice is slowly sinking.  We heard about Don Juan and Marco Polo and were shown where they lived.  We heard about how the rich Venetians built churches on every island in Venice.  We heard about the one rich Venetian that wanted to be king.  “Well”, the others said, “off with his head!”  Yikes.  Don’t upset a Venetian!  After about 50 minutes, our cruise was over, but thanks to Sebastian, our memories will last forever. 

Wiseguy really enjoyed the ride.  He told the kids all about his experience and how one day, they must go on gondola ride.  Now THAT should tell you something.

Sebastian, if you are reading this, we purchased a little memento of our visit to Venice.  We named the gondolier Sebastian.

Grazie Sebastian

I’m back!

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Did you miss me?  Maybe yes, maybe no, but let me tell you why I have not been blogging my little fingers off.

Wiseguy and I went to Europe.  No, it was not a last-minute decision.  We had booked our tickets back in February and the day had finally arrived for us to fly away and have a wonderful vacation in Europe.

Normal people book the summer off and jet away.  They take at least 3 to 4 weeks to enjoy the historical beauty of Europe.  In case you haven’t realized it yet, Wiseguy and I are not “normal” people.  I prefer the title of “unique” people.  As such, Wiseguy and I decided that we could really only be away for 10 days.  So it began.

We landed in Munich, Germany.  We drove for 8 hours down to a cozy little village in Croatia where FIL was anxiously awaiting our arrival.  After we unfurled ourselves from the mini car…ahem,  I mean “compact” car….we sat down and enjoyed our arrival.  We had driven from Munich through Austria, Slovenia, and into Croatia.  It was a looooooooooooooooong, but beautifully scenic, drive. 

The next morning we awoke to the sound of chirping birds…and the occasional crowing rooster.  We sat outside and enjoyed our new surroundings.  The panoramic mountains off in the distance.  We breathed in the fresh air.  Mind you, every once in a while you would get that one swirl of wind that would bring your nose to attention.  The smell of fresh manure from the neighbouring cows.  Mooo to you too!  I had a buddy goat that lived next door to FIL’s house.  (He belongs to the gypsy clan.  Yes, FIL’s neighbours are gypsies.)   As I would look at my goat friend he would baaa aaaaah at me.  Basically he was telling me to leave him alone while he grazed happily on his breakfast of grass and weeds. The neighbours also had two pigs of a variety I had never seen before.  One was black and the other was black and white.  The black and white was wasn’t speckled or striped.  His head and front two hoofs were white and then, I guess he got hit with paint or something, because his back half was black.  Unique right?  They also had a horse and old wooden buggy like they had on Little House on the Prairie. 

Honestly, being in Europe is like a time warp.  You have the modern stores in the cities but you drive 20 minutes out, village way, and BAM… farms and farm animals.  Nothing has changed.  The houses are the old cement and brick houses.  Some of them are old wood paneling.  The large vineyards there have been passed along from generation to generation.  Old ladies are wearing the babushkas on their heads and they have the trademark large, roundish black skirts with navy blue aprons.  They wander through their fields picking weeds out by hand.  Time warp right?

I will slowly share my adventures in Europe with you.  Traveling through Europe and taking millions of pictures to share with my family, was wonderful.  But being home and being able to hug and hold my family…that’s the best trip of all.  Welcome home!

Escape to the Believably Unbelievable

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I went to the movies today.  I cashed in one arm and half a leg to go and see The Avengers.  Yes, I did.  (Only half a leg as I cashed in points, or sold a relative, or something, in order to obtain a free ticket.  Next family reunion I will figure out who is missing.)  Was it worth it?  You betcha!

Just to be clear, I only go to see movies on the big screen when there is stuff being blown up and there’s lots of action.  Chick flicks I prefer to rent.  Same with comedies.  For some reason, I just love action movies on the huge screen.  Even better, this one was done in 3D!  Everything was flying right at me!  I was there in the movie!  No gun in hand or anything, but call me a casual bystander in the scenario.

This is a good year for movies.  This year is full of action movies.  The Avengers was a great start.  SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    (Poor New York…can’t imagine the tax increases due to restructuring after those evil things rip apart the city).  Then Dark Knight Rises comes out soon too. ( Hmmmm, there goes Gotham City.)  Now that brings me to Snow White and the Huntsman.  (I figure a whole forest gets burnt down and a castle might crumble.)  The trailers are fantastic!  Super Evil Queen!  Great acting!  And the Thor actor becomes a Hunter.  How cool is that?  (Can’t imagine the workout that man has to do in order to get biceps that big.)

I am not a regular movie goer.  I do believe there are certain movies that should be seen on the big screen to get the full effect.  Not only do you get surrounded by the activities on-screen, but the people are almost life-size (and especially in 3D).  You are now THERE!  You are in the movie!  You are part of it!  I must admit that with so much computer technology the impossible happens, but isn’t that what movies are supposed to be about?  It’s an escape.

In case I haven’t mentioned this earlier, I was a history student.  So, here is a bit of a history lesson for you.  During the Great Depression and during both World Wars, people went to the movies.  People went to the theatre.  People were entertained through radio programs.  It was all about escaping the reality around them for just a little while.

I escaped into another world today.  The acting was fantastic.  If I can believe the character’s persona then I am hooked.  That is good acting.  There are many good actors/actresses and I do appreciate being entertained properly. 

The Avengers also had what I appreciate most in storylines.  I LOVE humour.  The sarcasm, the surprising comments that make you chuckle.  The funny actions that probably make the actors want to pee with laughter after they hear “CUT”. 

Today, I just decided to share my joy of seeing a fantastic movie.  Fantastic…as in fantasy….suspend belief and just sit back and enjoy. 

Thank you to The Debater and The Artist for telling me to drop my other boring, drab duties and just escape for awhile into the film world.  I had a remarkably fun time and can’t wait for Wiseguy to see this movie!

Yup, ready to go to bed soon….just signing off this loan payment for my popcorn.

I’ll give you less than two minutes

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The older I get, the more I appreciate a good commercial.  It’s true.  If I am going to be sitting and waiting for my show to return, I want to be entertained.  If that commercial can make me laugh, even better.  The average length of a commercial is one minute.  The maximum time for an ad is 1 minute and 30 seconds.  That is just enough time for you advertisers to assault my visual and aural senses and keep me entertained.  Right now I must say that my top three are as follows:

The Old Spice commercial with Isaiah Mustafa – “Look at me, now look at your man”

Ikea winter clearance commercial – “Start the Car…woooooo”

How about Malibu Rum?  There are a few of them, but this was the first one I saw. 

Depending on your age group, you might recall any number of oldies but goodies.  Remember the Leon’s “miracle” commercials?  Lady standing in front of washer “you put it in dry, it comes out wet.”  Then she points to the drier, “you put it in wet, it comes out dry.  It’s a miracle”.  See, I thought that was very creative.  In the olden days there was one commercial that all of us knew word for word.  It was for Calgon water softener powder.  Actually, I still know all the words.  Oldie but a goodie right?

For people who LOVE good commercials (guilty as charged) there is a celebratory time of year when advertising agencies go for the gusto to create the primo commercial that shall go down in ad history.  This time of year is fondly referred to as “Superbowl”.  Yes, I love Superbowl!  I anxiously await for the game to stop so that I can watch all the great commercials.  My winner from the Superbowl last year, was from Best Buy (careful….F-bomb dropped in this one).  It features Ozzy Osbourne and Justin Bieber.  It’s just over one minute long, but just hilarious (well, for me anyway).

There is one other commercial that I would like to share.  It’s short.  It has no spoken words.  The actions say it all.  Let’s just say that sometimes you need to know when to SHARE (or how to negotiate).

 

 

El Presidente

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If there was one thing that I learned while studying at University, it was how to play cards.  Sure there were the crazy euchre tournaments and people begging you to be their partner, but there was absolutely nothing that was as much fun as President.  Hands down, best card game ever.  The great thing about it is that you can play with many people as long as you have enough decks of cards.

I introduced this game to our family while we were vacationing at the cottage.  There was our family and two of the extended families with us.  We were trying to figure out a card game that everyone could play.  Old and young.  It had to be something that everyone could get a chance to win.  Then it hit me.  I asked Wiseguy to go and bring out two decks of cards.  I told our clan that we would play a really fun game and it wouldn’t take long to learn it.  We started with 8 people.  We needed one deck of cards for every four players.  I figured that if the eight of us had fun then the others would join.  We played, we laughed…hook, line, sinker.  Bring out another deck of cards.

I will try to summarize the rules and gameplay for you:

The goal is to become President.  You become president by getting rid of all your cards first.  There is also a vice president, a secretary, and the lowly joker.  Anyone can deal the deck of cards first as everyone begins as a neutral person.  You deal the whole deck (jokers included as they are very, very lucky cards).  Now, the best way to sort all your cards is to put them highest to lowest and put pairs and triplets together.  Example:  Joker would be highest, then any deuces (twos are bonus cards as well).  Next would be Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, 10s, 9s, and so on down the line.  The three of spades starts to the game so whoever has that card must play it.  The game continues clockwise from there. 

Important:  if one card is laid then the next person can only play one higher card (not two or more).  If doubles are played, then it continues all around as doubles.  So, if one 3 is played then one 4 or higher can be played.  If two 5s were played then two 6s or higher can be played.

Super important regarding the bonus cards:  The wonderful Joker cards can beat anything…a single card or a stack of 5 of a kind.  BAM!  wins it!  The deuces, a little bit to remember.  One 2 will beat a single card or a double card.  If there is 3 of a kind put down you need two 2s.  Four of a kind, you need four 2s.

So, round and round you go until someone slams down that last card and calls PRESIDENT!  The next person who goes out is the Vice President, the next, secretary, and last is the Joker (fondly called Loser, but I prefer Joker when children are playing).

Next:  the Joker is now in charge of shuffling and dealing the cards (deal goes clockwise again).  The President gives his two lowest cards to the Joker and the Joker gives two highest cards to the President.  The Vice President gives his one lowest card to the Secretary and the Secretary gives the highest card to the Vice President.  Now, when you have 6 or more people playing it gets quite interesting.  There are only the 4 main positions.  All others that are playing keep all their cards.  No need to swap so you never know who has the Joker cards or the deuces. 

What is SO great about this game?  Anyone can win.  I remember my eight-year old niece just cleaning up.  She went from Joker to President in one turn.  The giggles and laughter were priceless.  This is definitely a unifying game.  That anticipation of dropping the last card is such an adrenaline rush.

We still play this game.  I introduced this game to The Baker and The Artist at Christmastime.  When we get together we still love to gather around the table play President and nosh on snacks while we giggle and laugh and taunt each other.  Good loving times.

The next time you have a large group of people together and just need a quick pick me up, whip out that deck of cards (or two or three or four) and declare a Presidency war.

Let me entertain you

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Going to the movies as a kid was something that I dreamt of doing.  My parents weren’t movie goers.  Why go to the movies when we had a fine black and white television set that worked just fine?  I tried to explain the excitement of seeing a picture on the big screen.  They informed me that they had gone to the movies once.  It was too long to sit through on uncomfortable seats.  It was a double feature.  It was The Ten Commandments.  Honest, I can’t make this stuff up.

The first movie I got to see was “Grease”.  I was nine years old.  The music was good, but I didn’t really understand the whole boy/girl drama.  The theatre was packed so the only seats left were the very front row.  My neck hurt afterward and the sight of seeing such big heads on-screen made it difficult for me to walk among the normal headed people after the movie.  Did I complain to my parents about it?  Heck no.  That would mean no more movie going.

Over the years I had gone to the movies regularly.  When I started attending University I met new friends.  They talked about driving into downtown Toronto to see live shows.  They loved the show.  They would make a whole evening of it.  They would get all dressed up.  They would start with dinner at a restaurant and then the show afterward.  The theatre, where real live people were on a stage performing.  I had always wondered what it would be like to go to one of the shows.  I do recall the price was really high and my meager student budget didn’t have room for this luxury.  So, I lived vicariously through my friends as they told me about the shows they saw.

One day my sister-in-law called and asked if we wanted to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  I looked at Wiseguy with those pleading “just this one time” eyes.  (Note:  Wiseguy and I have never even been to a movie theatre together.  He is very tall and is long leggedy and you just can’t curl up those legs to sit comfortably in the narrow aisles.)   Those older theatres don’t have much leg room either, but those pleading eyes of mine did the trick.  Either that or I just looked soooo pathetic that he didn’t want to have to deal with me skulking around if he said no.  So, off to the theatre!

We dressed up.  We went out for dinner.  We went to the theatre!  I was bursting with excitement.  I was like a kid going to the amusement park for the first time.  I kept whipping my head around to drink in my surroundings.  The outside of the building was brick.  The inside was dark cherry wood with red velvety seats.  Large red curtains bracketed the stage.  There were balconies, just like in the movies…you know, like Pretty Woman when she goes to the opera.  Yes, I was over excited and overwhelmed and beyond happy to be there.  Then, the little ding ding, to tell everyone to have a seat as the show was about the begin.  I held my breath with anticipation.

The singing was so intense that I had goosebumps.  The costumes were vibrant.  The dancers were remarkable.  Even better, Donny Osmond, my childhood crush, was Joseph.  Awesome!  It was Beautiful!  It was Amazing!  Now I totally understood why my friends loved going to the theatre.  Such a different experience from the movie theatre.

Last year I got a pamphlet from our local performing arts centre.  They had an early bird special for a 5 show package.  I wanted to go.  I had to go.  I decided that it was time for me to treat myself.  Interestingly enough, the price for the tickets was quite reasonable.  About $53.00 a show.  Not bad, considering that movie theatre tickets with popcorn and drink comes out to almost $30.00.  Wiseguy didn’t want to sit in a squishy seating place, but he told me to go for it and enjoy.  Even better, he would drive me to and from each show.  Win win for me!  So I got to see Cats and Riverdance and My Fair Lady and Mama Mia.  One more show to go:  Young Frankenstein.  I am hooked on musicals!  I loved every show.  I even got first balcony seating to fulfill that dream as well.

My bucket list has quite a mish-mash of dreams and wishes.  Some days I add to the list.  Some days, I am very happy to be able to scratch some things off my list.

List Item:  go to fancy old theatre and enjoy the live show

If you were on a desert island…

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Have you ever played this game?  I remember sitting around with friends and we could go on for hours with this one.  It’s a simple game and you can play it with anyone and it really does tell you a lot about the other person or people.

Here is how you play.  You start off with this question:

If you were on a desert island, what CD would you listen to?  Yes, you only get to pick one CD.  Interesting question isn’t it?  It brings you to pondering what person or band you would or could actually listen to more than once.  Some people answer right away.  Others, well, they would like to know if it can be a soundtrack or just one band.  Can it be a “best of”?  Can it be a box set?  Mind you, we played this game before the world of MP3s so it really was quite a quandry to decide what you would pick to listen to all the time.  What CD would you choose?

Next, what food would you eat?  We would allow up to three foods and of course you get into the silly world of, “yeah, a private jet drops this off to you on a weekly basis and you have a stove and microwave that work and they are solar powered so you can heat everything if you want.”  I know, silly right?  Why wouldn’t the jet just take you off the island?  Duh.  But that’s not the point.  The point is, what food do you like?  And no, you won’t gain a pound no matter what you eat.

From there we would continue to clothing and shoes and books and movies.  See how much fun it can be?

Ok, maybe it was just fun for us because it killed time, but like I said, it really did bring us closer to our friends and their thoughts on things and how they felt about things.

Give it a try one day.  You will be fascinated by what you learn about your friends and family.

(In case you were wondering…..soundtrack to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat / pizza, french fries with gravy, ice cream / men’s dress shirt / crocs (yes, I like them!) / The Talisman, by Stephen King and Peter Straub / The Princess Bride (which includes my favourite line:  “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die!”   haha!  classic!)