I left my cash with Tony Bennett

To be fair, I bet he was heartbroken he didn't get to sing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" for the Torontonians last night. About twenty minutes into his set it started to rain and the promoters, citing safety concerns for crew and audience, announced a ten-minute break to let the storm pass over. About forty-five minutes later, after a few more ten-minute delay announcements, they cancelled the show.

There had been a long intermission after Diana Krall's set with slow clapping from the crowd indicating impatience. If they had kept the intermission to twenty minutes perhaps the show would have been finished before the rain came. Presumably an outdoor theatre has a sharp eye on the weather so the long intermission was unconscionable. So we didn't get The Big Finish.

For James Taylor's show the previous week the parking was free, apparently prepaid by the promoters. For the Bennett/Krall show it was twenty dollars, this price not mentioned anywhere in the promo. Line-up to get into the parking was chaotic, about forty-five minutes. For twenty bucks a little more efficiency would be appreciated. More gates, better signage. And lower cost, this is not downtown.

While our theatre scene is quite vibrant, outside the theatres Toronto has some catching up to do. Nearly anywhere else in the world there is some place to eat after the show. I am not asking for fine dining but there must be something more civilized than Chinese takeaway or McDonald's drive-through. The chance of finding anything to eat near the Rexall Centre is particularly grim, it is a cultural oasis in an epicurean waste-land, about fifteen kilometres from downtown Toronto.

It is nice to see a live star in a live performance, but to tell the truth the theatre is so big I was watching the giant video screen most of the time. So is the cost, the parking, the line-ups, the driving, the weather uncertainty all worth it? Not really.

Bob Smtih
Time traveller from the twentieth century.

First sight of Canada from a DC3

1951, the RAF sent me to Canada to learn to fly. (In Gimli, Manitoba, where they have wide open spaces with nothing of value to damage when we crash.) We crossed the Atlantic in a DC3, stopping at Iceland on the way to refuel. I spent ten months learning to fly a Harvard in Gimli and came back to Canada as an immigrant when I was demobbed in 1953.

Gimli is now known as the Air Canada gliding school, it is where the jet landed that ran out of fuel at 30,000 feet. See Gimli Glider, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

London Bobby

Time traveler from 20th century

Let's hear the solution, not just scaremongering.

To: Jenni Byrne, Here For Canada Campaign Manager

Dear Jenni,

re: www.ipodtax.ca

I have received your email with the link to ipodtax.ca. I am replying here since your email address will not accept my email. I am a conservative but I don't think scare-mongering is a good thing to do, it is rather transparent and annoys the recipient.

It might be a good idea to address the problem that the tax is intended to address and that is how to compensate the creators of intellectual property for their work in a fair manner. Now that distribution by records, tapes, CDs and DVDs is down the tubes, how do the creators, of which I am one, get compensated? If it is not solved there will be very little original creation done and we can just lay down and die under the tsunami of remixing and karaoke pulp from the US which passes for pop culture so let's hear your solution.

I feel that the Conservative party is doing nothing to solve this problem, nothing to protect creators of intellectual property and nothing about the defense of a fragile Canadian culture against overwhelming American invasion. It seems the party's attitude is, if rape is inevitable, lay back and enjoy it.

And, by the way, would you please set out in clear language how the conservative party intends to support the CBC, if it does intend to support it at all?

Mind you, I think the HTML programming that went into creating ipodtax.ca is brilliant and I am thinking of using large chunks of the programming to improve my own website. Fair enough?

On Apr 12, 2011, at 8:46 PM, Jenni Byrne

Here For Canada Campaign Manager, wrote: www.ipodtax.ca

This is rather symptomatic, I sent the above message to Jenni Byrne at that email address and received the following as a result: Delivery has failed to these recipients or distribution lists:

hereforcanada@conservative.ca
There's a problem with the recipient's mailbox. Microsoft Exchange will not try to redeliver this message for you.

It seems the 'Here For Canada' campaign only speaks, it doesn't listen.

In praise of ukuleles

Check out the Toronto Uke club, meets every Wednesday and there is no better way to spend an evening.

London Bobby
Time traveller from last century.

The Producers a smash hit in Fuengirola, Spain

Mel Brooks musical comedy 'The Producers' opened at Fuengirola's Salon Varietes Theatre on Friday March 25 for a twelve-day run. It was absolutely first class! The acting was terrific, the direction was expert, every clever witty line came across and the audience was roaring with laughter throughout.

I could nitpick about a couple of minor glitches with the scenery moving but I won't as this was the first night and I am sure it will be fixed by second night. What else can I complain about? The Mars bars sold by the charming usherettes melted in my pocket before I had a chance to eat them both.

The Salon Varietes Theatre is an English language theatre, the only one in Spain I believe. Where did they find these star performers? I don't know but I am going again closing night (Tuesday April 5), if I lived closer I would probably go mid-run as well. This is not to be missed.

This blog is called Bob's Daily Grumble so, alright; they will have to get better insulated wrappers for those Mars ice cream bars.

London Bobby
Time traveller from the last century.

The New Generation

Once upon a time you could walk into a comfortable lounge/bar with a grand piano and someone playing Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael music. Then there were a bunch of guys like me with singalong, chat and comedy.

The old order passeth. The new genration is represented by Jeffery Straker. On Apr 9 he will be in Toronto ON at the Royal Conservatory of Music Theatre. Go and see him while you can, it wont be long before it costs a fortune to get a seat.

London Bobby
Time traveller from the last century

No tracks please, we're musicians!

Tracks are boring. Tracks leave no leeway for expression or interpretation by the performer. Singing to tracks is karaoke, even if accompanied by the odd note on a guitar or a keyboard. Boring! Boring!

Use a band, or an accompanist or, if the worst comes to the worst, play the damn thing yourself. If you can't do that, learn! Don't go trolling round the internet for somebody else's work.

So, if you are performing somewhere and most of what we are hearing is from tracks, I won't be there.

Bob Smith, time traveler from the last century.