Anywhere the Wind Blows

Last weekend Jason and I had tickets to see the Queen musical that's brand new to Toronto, We Will Rock You at the Canon theatre.

Did they rock us? Yes, they did.

It was very likeable, but it's a jukebox musical, so if you go in wanting to compare it to Les Miserables, you will be disappointed.
But if you love Queen songs (and really, who doesn't?) and want to be entertained, this one fits the playbill.
The cast was great - special kudos to Yvan Pedneault (a french-tongued Galileo), Erica Peck (uber-cute Scaramouche), and Alana Bridgewater (fellow fat-bottomed girl).
The show was so rockin that the floor of the theatre reverberated (the last time I was there, it was still called Pantages, and I saw The Phantom of the Opera); my knees knocked together for hours afterward. The only complaint I really had was that it tried a little too hard to be "Canadian" relevant, and that it shamefully went for some easy jokes (including naming a big, black, well-built, handsome man Britney Spears...it made me flinch every single time).

Anyway, since last weekend was also St. Patrick's day, we went out for drinks afterward (Jason drank Guinness, and I drank some green martinis until I switched to a drink called The Rocket, which was the sugariest drink I have ever had the misfortune of tossing down the old gullet, but they got the job done because by the time we called a cab, I could no longer negotiate the curb of Yonge Street or remember how to sit upright without being visited by the Queasy Fairy.

Anyway. Jason was in fabulous Brampton (stripper capital of Canada) on business this weekend, staying in luxury accommodations with such features as:

• fire alarm
• ice machine
• lighting
• colour television
• clock radio!

So since he was abandoning me, I insisted that he spend the week banking quality time - even in the rain.
Poor Queen's Park. Not only is it flooded, it appears to be the site of a Squirrel Uprising. But it's worth trespassing on Squirrel Territory to get to Bloor St W, home to BMV Books, otherwise known as Jamie's Wet Dream, where I bought Jason lots of travel reading, for the rare moments not spent stuffing dollar bills into g-strings.

Then I also guilted him into visiting the Bata Shoe Museum (do I know how to milk this or what?).
I thought it was good, but not great. I complained to Jason that it was nice to see so many historic shoes, but surely there would be merit in some contemporary masterpieces as well, and he felt that I was being "stupid" since if we wanted to see 20th century shoes, we could have saved our $16 and stayed home to clean out our closets. I did enjoy the famous shoe section, and was inspired to see a shoe worn by the incomparable Terry Fox, and sandals belonging to Pierre Trudeau.


Anyhoo. My movie (well, Adam Sandler's new movie) Reign Over Me finally opened on Friday, and as tradition has dictated since I was 12 years old, I had to be there opening night. I told Jason to stay home and get sleep before his trip, but he knew better than to leave me under the Adam spell all alone, so he took me out like a good boy.

The movie is amazing, by the way. It's a very cool thing to sit in an audience full of people, and all of us grieve together, and laugh together, and try to pretend like we're not all sobbing together and wiping our eyes with rough paper napkins from the concession stand together.

All in all, I've seen and done some exciting things this week, and I hope you have too.