ICELAND EDITED: DAY TWO

Day two of our Iceland vacation was day one of our guided bus tour, Country Life. We met our fellow tourists, an american or two, a pair of Brits, a couple of Australians and a few Belgians who would become our favorite travelling companions  We were all the ones sitting at the back of the bus drinking cans of Viking Beer. We also met Anna Laura, our tour guide, a mountain rescue guide and climber, about 95 pounds of dynamite, wit and opinion. Her partner was Sigi, our bus driver, who wants to visit us in Canada so we can take him to Burger King

From Reykjavik we made our way north up to the Western Fjords. We passed small fishing villages and took a long tunnel under a fjord that was contested during World War II due to its depths, the Allies sunk massive fuel dumps in it to service submarines and fighting ships. We got our first taste of Icelandic Coastal weather and were very happy for bringing the really good rain gear.

We got off the bus at Arnarstapi, a little fishing village that featured a giant Viking made out of basalt and some pretty spectacular coastal features, where surf had pounded its way into and through the volcanic rock

Anna took us along the coast and guided us through this narrow draw, with the rain stinging out faces, to an inlet where the surf pounds in so hard, it smashed to pieces a steel Russian fishing trawler; all that is left of the vessel now is just some random junk.

We had an opportunity to wring the salt water out of cameras on our way to our next location: A museum that was actually just the house of a fisherman, a shark fisherman. This is an example of Iceland resourcefulness. Isolated as they are, you find many farms with their own museums and their own churches as well. This old fellow made his living from fishing Greenland sharks. He puetrified them then served it us .. and yes, it pretty much tasted the way it sounds

After lunch (ahem) we made our way to Hraunfossar. We came to know Iceland as the land of waterfalls but even in this country the ones here are special; a waterfall that burst out of the Hallmundarhraun lava plain

Just up the road is Barnafoss, the Children's Waterfall, another example of the power of water, erupting out of the lava field

And of course, I had to perch on top of it to get some shots

And here is what I saw

SHE IS BLUE

She wants her man to come back ...

She wants her man to come to the bedroom ...

She wants her man to respect her ...

She wants that man's girl friend to come to the bedroom ...

She wants young women to start wearing pants ...

She stands at a keyboard in a pretty blue dress, she prowls the stage like a black limbed lioness, she cradles a wooden slide guitar in her lap, she pumps an electric guitar Jimi Hendrix style, she holds the mic in her hands with her eyes closed and her emotion pouring out of her throat.

She is 22 and plays like 40, she is 85 and giggles like 15; she is a woman from the prarie whose life was changed by a ancient blues record; she is a woman of the black urban world who hangs on to her roots in a white suburban setting; she interprets the emotional tones of another woman's words; she turns inside herself to find her own music.

She sings alone, just her voice and her instrument. She connects with other women and rocks as unit.

She is Ma Rainey. She is Lady Day.

She is Suzie Vinnik, Aida Lee, Donna Gratis ...

She is the Women's Blues Review 2011.

I'M WOOFING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS

OK, let's play a new game shall we? The name of this game is: Only in Toronto ...

Only in Toronto would you have an event for dogs, in which you are encouraged to bring your dogs, that is entirely inside.

Only in Toronto would you have an event that featured a dog talent show where one of the humans declared his pet's trick was doing "whatever he wants to do" The dog laid down by the way. Gave me goose bumps

Only in Toronto would you have a gigantic state of the art convention centre transformed into a dog kennel and said convention centre's "state of the art" being an area filled with wood chips, just perfect for pooping

Only in Toronto would you have not only have vendors selling "gourmet" dog food but selling "gourmet holistic whole free range raw diet" dog food .. and no, I didn't make that up (OK I made some of it up, stop being so observant)

So what we have here is the winter version of Woofstock. And no, I don't suppose all those things are exclusive to Toronto but it is probably an urban conceit to host an event where hundreds of dogs are attending, all inside.

No I did not take Terra. When you own a border collie, you learn to avoid any situations that may lead to them mocking you, as in "Seriously, you brought me to play with all these dogs .. in a building .. with fake grass ... seriously?"

Anyway, here's the video. I'm hearing derisive canine snickering from the other room

ICELAND EDITED: DAY ONE

It's been a busy time since Collette and I had our tour of Iceland in July. In that time I have managed to edit all the video and Collette has been working on her photo's. With the year starting to wind down, I thought it was due time I began posting the final results.

Uploading videos takes time and there is the issue of file limits etc so I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to load the videos and post the blogs, it probably may not be consecutive, so please bear with me and check back for new Iceland posts.

Day one was pretty simple. We flew from Toronto to Iceland, on our way catching a few intriguing glimpses of Greeland, which we see better on our trip back home.

We landed at Keflavik Airport early morning Icleand, but late night Toronto time. On our way to Reykjavik we caught our first glimpses of Iceland's famous lava fields, one of the few places on earth where the climate allows lichens and moss to form on the hardened lava. You'll see a couple of shots int this video, and much more in later scenes.

Our first night in Iceland was spent at the Grand Hotel, a really lovely place, very modern, I'm told the largest hotel in Iceland but a bit of a walk to the downtown of the city

Reykjavik is a lovely harbour town. Most of Icleand's population live in this area, like over two thirds of the people but it still maintains a quaint charm . . .

. . . while still looking to the future

Walking around the harbour, we came upon this little locomotive. There are no railroads in Iceland, none. This was one of only two trains that ever operated here; they were used to shuttle rock down to the harbour that was used in creating the breakwall

Reykjavik is a pretty town but jet lag began to kick our butts pretty badly; we weren't able to check into our hotel till 4 pm which was something like 2:30 am our time. We knew we would come back here, after our bus tour of the country, so we grabbed something to eat, loaded up on some Viking Beer, grabbed some quick shots and lurched around like Canadian zombies

More to come

NARES INLET THANKSGIVING

It's that time of year again. Dogs are chasing frisbees on the beach, boats are riding swells in to the open bay, sun is glinting off water, people are getting sunburns ... and oh yeh, someone's making a turkey. Sunny days aside, it's Thanksgiving in Nares Inlet.

We followed Dennis and Kay's tradition of going out into the inlet and finding some sunny Georgian Bay rocks (which means rocks you could build a shopping centre on) to enjoy an afternoon of snacks and games. Dennis's big work boat was out of commission so we gathered together a few boats, which I labelled the Nares Inlet Navy

We all enjoyed the extraordinary weather, which was different things for different people. Some enjoyed a little exploration of the island ...

... some decided to try to launch some air support for the Nares Inlet navy ...

... some slept like babies (literally) ....

... some picked wild cranberries ...

... and we all played a game that involves, cards and lucks and theivery. Perfect for families

A fun time was had by all but really, how could you not enjoy a sunny warm day on the Georgian Bay

Back on shore, Terra was having a terrific time but perhaps a bit glum that she missed the boat trip. With her love of water, I'm surprised she didn't swim out to meet us

So another Nares Inlet Thanksgiving draws to a close, vanishing like the evening mist across the still cold water.

Here's the video

NUIT BLANCHE TORONTO 2011

Ah, autumn. Time for raking leaves, shopping for Halloween costumes, harvesting pumpkins ... and having furry robotic eyes chase you around a stage as they try to turn your face into music ...

Yes, Nuit Blanche time in Toronto once again.

This installation at Dundas Square was one of two that featured robots obsessed with copying our images. This one took pictures of your face then transformed the pixels into audio tracks. Across the street at the Eaton Centre more robots chased folks around, desperate to take pics of them and to determine how famous they may, or may not, be.

There was a theme running through some of the installations this year, that of being observed, of being listed, of being analyzed and categorized and fit into boundries. Can anyone say G20 summit?

This is actually a kind of art that I like, using ulitarian objects for a purpose of expression. OK, this particular installation may not have been subtle, but it made its point, especially staged on a barricaded Younge Street in front of an incredibly annoying glaring light

Another theme that we noticed throughout the night was transformation The eyebots in Dundas Square transformed your face into audio. As we wandered around in search of art and french fries we had one of those lovely Nuit Blanche experiences, quite by accident seeing a light down this narrow alley and following it into this little courtyard I never knew was there ... and found this lovely installation of cardboard tubes where tiny dots of light responded to hand claps.

There was more commercialism evident at this years Blanche; we found this interesting installation that featured a drummer swallowed up by an automobile ... an event sponsored by Ford and that lead you to a little exhibit that was essentially a car dealership

Over at City Hall, art was taking flight ... ok I really should be ashamed of that one. You see, they had erected towers and strung cables across Nathan Phillips Square, put people into giant bird suits and flew them around ... so art took flight. Yes, I should be ashamed of that one. But of course, I'm not

We ended up the night with the almost obligatory fire show. In a parking lot beside the bus station, three giant fire cannon belched flame in time to music and from input from volunteers. There were wrecked cars, girls with flaming hula hoops, guys flinging balls of fire on the end of chains ... it was all very Mad Max.

The thing that attracts me to Nuit Blanche every year is the art, but not just the art on display. For me, there is art in the city being awake all night, of streets being closed, of groups of strangers wandering around together, united by our curiosity. That, for me, is art too.

And of course, here's the video

PRIVATE LIVES: PRIVATE YET RAUCOUS

This a review of the current staging of Noel Coward's Private Lives from Mirvish Productions running at the Royal Alexandria Theatre here in Toronto.

Noel Coward was a play write and occasional movie actor who we now equate with sophistication and wit. And while he often wrote about the jet class of his day - this place takes place in France on both the Riviera and Paris - what makes Coward stand out is how he portrayed those sophisticates. On the outside it was all tuxedos and tiaras, inside it was all bitterness and invective, a perspective that makes for some very big laughs

What appealed to me about this production, when first I heard of it, was the cast. A very Canadian powerhouse cast. We have Kim Cattrall, best known for her role in Sex and the City but an actress with a long and interesting career. As the honeymooning Amanada, Cattrall certainly brings a lot of sophistication and glamour and here British accent is spot on

What she also brings is a great deal of fire (not so surprising) and a real gift for physical comedy. And trust me, for all Coward's rapier sharp dialogue, this production is very physical. These jet setters jab with more than just their tongues; records, pillows, picture frames and other props are all transformed into projectile weapons. Cattrall is not afraid to let herself go, to attack her part with bones and teeth and perfectly coiffed blonde hair all to hilarious results.

The other powerhouse Canadian star in this production is Paul Gross. Yes, Paul Gross the mountie from Due South but also the star/writer/director of Men With Brooms and Passchendale. His range has always impressed me as has his humour, it veers from the absurd to the ironic and is perfectly suited to Noel Coward. His accent is spot on and at the beginning of the play as he too is on his on his honeymoon, he comes across as a slightly more acidic Cary Grant. As he meets his recently divorced lover (Cattrall) his veneer quickly dissolves and the acid oozes forth; in the second act as all the characters are united and try to iron out the mess, we watch Gross trying to hold in the emotions and as he can't, as the acid bubbles out of him like emotional lava, he gives us one of the funniest performances I've seen on stage in a long long time.

It's a five person cast, and as the newly married soon to be discarded spouses, both Anna Madeley and Simon Paisley Day hold their own extremely well. You want to feel sorry for them but watching their pain at the hand of these two cads is really really funny. The fifth member of the cast is Caroline Lena Olsson as a French speaking maid whose Gallic reserve in the face of all the insanity hits all the right notes.

Private Lives starts out as a comedy of manners but quickly devolves into a madcap comedy, at least in this production but there is also a nice streak of social commentary, the whole idea of what is acceptable to define as love and what a couple makes. Thankfully this is addressed but not overstated: This is a comedy. A well written, superbly acted comedy and the director and cast are quite happy if they do nothing but make us laugh out loud.

Mission fulfilled.