You know what I’m talking about. 9/11. Twenty years ago today. Hard to believe it’s been that long. But I remember exactly where I was. Every detail. As clearly as if it was yesterday.
I was at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). I was seeing five films that day (I saw five to six films every day for 10 straight days). And on this particular day, Tuesday, September 11, I was just coming out of my first of the day, which had started at around 8:30.
Continue readingWe’ve been having a heatwave in Toronto. I’m not complaining. I promised myself, during the endless deep freeze that was our winter of 2019, that I would not complain of the heat ever again, no matter how bad it is. So I’m merely stating a fact.
This past Saturday was particularly oppresssive, with not even the merest hint of a breeze. My apartment is air conditioned so I could have busied myself at home. But I didn’t want to. I wanted to be out, doing something. “Ahhhh,” I thought to myself. This is a perfect day to go to a movie.
Much as I love movies, I tend not to see too many of them in summer, it’s too nice outside and we have Continue reading
Some background: Late last year, I subscribed to a five-film series of documentaries (Doc Soup Sundays) followed by a discussion. The screenings are once a month at 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings.
Some more background: Last Saturday night I went out for dinner with friends. I made the mistake of having a cup of coffee after dinner. It’s never been a problem before, so I didn’t know it was a mistake until I was up all night.
This brings us to last Sunday morning, after a mostly sleepless night. It was after 2 am when I finally dozed off and I was up again before 5. The little sleep I did get was, sadly, not the glorious, deep, coma-like, dream-inducing sleep from which one awakes somewhat dazed, confused and refreshed. Instead, I Continue reading
I love documentaries. Through them, I learn about all sorts of things, places and people I might otherwise never know anything about — perfect for someone who’s curious, like me.
So needless to say I’m thrilled to live in a city with a theatre (Ted Rogers Hot Docs Cinema) devoted to screening nothing but documentaries — seven days a week, 365 days a year. I’m even more thrilled to live a 15-minute walk away from said theatre — or a 5-minute subway ride if I’m pressed for time, lazy or the weather’s very bad.
Although you can buy single tickets, I have an incredibly inexpensive annual membership, which entitles me to advance ordering and discounts on regular film screenings and special events, invitations to free Continue reading
While it was certainly tempting to crawl into a well-heated cave and hibernate until Spring during our recent deep freeze I was, instead, taking advantage of some of the many things Toronto has to offer.
Yes, with the exception of only a few breathtakingly cold days cocooned at home, wrapped in a blanket, I bundled up in multiple layers of sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves and down-filled coats, braved the sub-zero temperatures and enjoyed some great films and an assortment of terrific breakfasts, lunches and dinners with family, friends and former colleagues (some of whom I haven’t seen in years and years). And Continue reading
I can see you, sitting there, staring at my headline, saying to yourselves, “that’s not possible, and even 
if it was, who’d be crazy enough to do it?” Relax, I have no intention of trying it. But my week did include bits of all of them.
It began last Wednesday night when I had dinner with a friend. I don’t know if you’re the same, but I tend to always end up in the same neighborhood when I go out to eat — the one I live in. Why we tend to fall back on what’s familiar I don’t know, but it sure does get boring after a while.
So we decided to venture further afield and go to a little family-run Portuguese restaurant she’s been to before. It’s called Rush Hour and it’s in the west end of Toronto, on Dufferin.
No, I don’t know how a Portuguese restaurant ended up with that Continue reading
I had a movie last Saturday morning, the second last of the six-film package I bought for the Hot Docs
Film Festival.
Although the friend I was with offered to drive me home afterward, I decided to walk. The theatre isn’t that far from where I live; about a 15 minute walk, 25 or 30 if you dawdle and stop to look in store windows.
Plus, it was my idea of perfect weather — sunny, warm, not too hot or humid, with a nice gentle breeze. So we said our Continue reading
I’ve always been a movie lover and for years I attended TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). It was
something I always looked forward to — even the endless lining up.
Those 10 days every September were sacrosanct, I booked them off almost a year in advance and honestly, short of a disaster there was nothing — and I do mean nothing — that would have caused me to change my plans.
You’ll think I am totally crazy, but I used to buy the 50-movie pass. Yeah, I’d see five to six movies everyday, for 10 straight Continue reading
I saw a wonderful documentary last week, about street cats in Istanbul, where hundreds of 
thousands of them roam freely, and have for thousands of years. In the film, Kedi, we meet seven of them.
To be perfectly honest, much as I love cats, part of me wanted to see the film and part of me didn’t. I hate to see animals (or people) suffer and I was afraid these pussycats would look Continue reading
I saw a terrific movie last Sunday, a documentary — “Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago”. Don’t know if you’re familiar with the Camino Trail — it’s a 
700+ km pilgrimage route you can walk from various points in Europe to the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain.
Yeah, you heard right. You walk it. Seven hundred plus kilometres. About 434.96 miles, give or take a couple of dozen blisters. Callouses. Cases of tendonitis. Bum knees. Tears. Exhaustion.
Everyone has their own reason for doing it. For some it’s simply to know they can. For others it’s to overcome an illness or fear, to find the answer to a question they may not have even yet asked, to find themselves, to come to terms with a loss, to celebrate an event or a milestone, or simply for the sheer fun
365 And Counting 