Author: James McNally

TIFF 2003: Final Schedule

Well, we spent from 9:30 until 2:00 today lining up to pick up our film tickets, and then submitting our second choices. I only got 9 of my 15 picks (Brooke got 10 of hers), so then we joined the second line to try to get tickets to whatever other films were available. Here is my revised schedule:

World Track and Field Championships

One of the side effects of Brooke and I getting into running has been an increased interest in watching the world’s elite runners do their thing. For the past nine days, the World Championships in Athletics have been taking place in Paris. It’s been fun watching some of the races. The marathons were a highlight, passing just about every Parisian landmark, and there were a few great Canadian moments, too. Perdita Felicien’s gold medal performance in the women’s 100m hurdles comes to mind, but also the two Canadian women Courtney Babcock (8th) and Émilie Mondor (12th) breaking the national record for the the 5,000m (5K). The French women’s victory over the Americans in the 4x100m relay was also pretty thrilling to watch.

The shadow of steroids unfortunately still hangs over the world of track and field. How do I know? Because after one particularly shocking come-from-behind victory, Brooke’s comment was “They better check her pee.”

The Polyphonic Spree

Can I just tell you how great The Polyphonic Spree is? I’d heard of them as long as two years ago, since they’re a Texas band and they usually play at South By Southwest. I finally picked up their CD a few weeks ago, and just want to recommend it.

The Polyphonic Spree are a “band” of more than 25 singers and musicians, all dressed in gospel choir robes, and singing the most joyous music I’ve heard in a long time. They have a gospel-hippie vibe that’s infectious and I have to admit that their music almost makes my heart burst every time I hear it. It’s so full of joy that I want to cry. Wacky, eh?

Check out some live performance video here (crappy RealPlayer software required). Lots more video available at the band’s site, too.

Gah! I just checked their site and they’re playing in Toronto on September 29th and 30th. Anyone wanna come hear some great music and watch me crying?

TIFF 2003: Early Picks

Last night, Paul and Brent came over to our place so that we could all make our choices for the Toronto International Film Festival which begins on September 4. This part of the process is always frantic. You have to mark your choices down in a printed schedule, which must be dropped off before 10am tomorrow. These schedules are placed into numbered boxes, and at 10am, one number is drawn out of a hat. This lucky box is the first to have its orders filled, and then the box whose number follows it, etc. Last year or the year before, we were in the box before the lucky box, meaning that our order was filled last. I think we got half of our choices. Regardless of how lucky you are, you almost never get all of your choices, which means last-minute scrambling to plug something into your schedule. It helps if it’s something you want to see, and of course it helps if there are tickets left by the time you’ve decided and then stood in line. So, it’s always an adventure.

Here are my preliminary picks. If I’m very lucky, I might get 13 or 14 of these:

Last night was such a blur that I’ve only just now realized how skewed my choices are toward American and British films, and documentaries. The good thing about not getting all your first choices is that some of your last-minute substitutions turn into the happy accidents that make that year’s festival memorable. So, no matter what happens, I’ll be seeing some great films in the next couple of weeks.

War Stories

Since getting home from our trip to Poland, I’ve become very interested in the Second World War. Brent and I have been watching Band of Brothers and I’m reading Antony Beevor‘s excellent account The Fall of Berlin 1945.

While we were in Poland, Brooke interviewed the pastor’s mother, who had been deported from her home in Bialystok, Poland to Siberia by the Soviet army at the beginning of the war. She’s going to be writing an article about the story. In the course of her research, she’s discovered a great site called TimeWitnesses, which has assembled recollections from people who lived through some of these horrific events.

I am reminded again to be grateful for the ways we can use technology to make sure that we never forget the past. And then I wonder who (if anyone) is collecting these stories in Iraq or Afghanistan.