Sunday, December 30, 2007

X-mas Tales

Well... Christmas has been great this year. It's been a far cry from last years stress and anxiety. Not that Christmas caused the stress and anxiety it was just the moving to the new country with the new job and all that.

Went to Uncle Neil's and Aunt Julia's on December 23 for Uncle Neil's Birthday and had a lovely time. There was plenty of delicious food and fun. Unfortunately we could only stay one day. We did manage to watch the season finale of Top Gear though. Top Gear is a fantastic car show. It's great. I don't even like cars much but it's akin to watching Emeril cook...it's not about the food (or cars) it just a wickedly entertaining show. They come up with the craziest ideas for testing cars. It's hillarious.

We then went to Babagenouche's Aunt and Uncle's House on Christmas Eve. Aunt Jane was away on the Isle of Wight taking care of her mother until the 26th so Baba and I agreed to go over and baby sit. :) We had a great time...much food and drink was consumed.

I got some great gifts. The best one I got (and this sounds really weird but I'm a bit nutty) was a solar charger from Babagenouche. It basically means you can charge any device you need using solar power instead of electricity. Takes me off the grid! Saves me money on my power bill! Reduces Co2! Is portable! Fun!

Babagenouche and I hae been spending some good times over the last week or so. Yesterday we took some Christmas money and went shopping in Oxford Circus. It was pretty manic but not as crowded as I had feared. I've discovered that Marks and Spencers has actually got some decent clothes that are reasonably priced! I thought they were more for old fuddy duddies and were expensive but they're alright! I got two shirts and a pair of chords and Baba got a pair of jeans (after 16 hours of trying things on might I add).

The best was that we then went to SoHo and got some Korean food. Ummmm....I love Korean. We even ordered a bottle of the dreaded Soju. Soju is the Korean equivilant to rice wine. It tastes like sweet vodka but does terrible things to your body. I drank a lot...got quite drunk and then was hit with a terrible headache ... all in about 40 minutes! Woo hoo!

Anyway, I've been enjoying all my gifts. Thanks all!

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Sick Seagull

Oh what disappointment!

Babagenouche and I were extremely excited to the Royal Shakespeare Companies production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull last night. Our excitement was heightened by the fact that Sir Ian McKellan (Gandalf himself!) was in it, it was directed by Trevor Nunn (a director of apparently high repute) and it has gotten good reviews.

I tell you one thing. The reviews are lies.

This was one of the most excruciating nights of theatre I have ever sat through. I confess that I don't know much about Chekov but the usual complaint is that his plays are about people sitting around whining about nothing. I didn't know what The Seagull was about having never read it or seen it before and, after seeing it I can conclude only one thing. It is a terribly written play about people sitting around whining about nothing.

OH! I can hear all the retorts now! It's a masterpiece! It's one of the greatest works of art ever! Genius! You just don't understand the subtle subtext! The gigantic monumental shifts that happen below the surface of the world.

Perhaps. I was looking for them. Eagerly anticipating skill of this world reknowned theatre company to bring them forth. I was holding out for the second act to pull the play together. But alas...the second act completely unravelled. What in the hell is WRONG with these people? Boring!

Anyway, in my defence, I have seen Chekhov done and done well. I've only seen shorts of Chekhov done by Soul Pepper Theatre in Toronto and, believe me, it was way better. Babagenouche has also seen Uncle Vanya done by Soulpepper and loved it. She's also worked with the company and so I have insight into how they work...this just ain't it.

Here's how Chekhov SHOULD be done if it is too succeed (if I may be so bold). This is based on the work I have seen at Soul Pepper. The characters should be on the brink of breakdown, their emotions so overwrought, so near the breaking point, so tragic and comic in their desperation that every little thing they do should set them off and into hysterics. Then it's funny my friends. This production was supposed to be a comedy? I don't think so.

How ironic that they sit and talk about what makes bad art or theatre while being involved in the exact same process. Ugh! It was painful I tell you painful!

If you want to see Chekhov done well go see Soulpepper in Toronto. They're brilliant.

My final quibble is with the play itself. I think it's crap. In the first act I was annoyed that the actors weren't playing the aforementioned emotions. In the second act I was ready to scream in exasperation at the play itself. It makes no sense I tell you.

Maybe if it were done right it would work but I think the challenge of staging this would be to overcome the inherent weakness of the script itself. Supposedly The Cherry Orchard is a later piece by Chekhov and is his true masterpiece while The Seagull is an earlier effort and Chekhov hasn't quite got it right yet. Hopefully this is the case.

As you can tell from my venting...I hated this play. This seems to be the reaction Chekhov inspires in many. On the other side people seem to absolutely love him.

There you have it... that's Chekhov I suppose.

On an related note....

It occurred to me that I've seen a cross section of theatre here over the last year...from small fringe theatre, to new works, to established pieces, to the big shows and I honestly have to say that the theatre I saw on average in Toronto was better. There were far less disappointments and far more gems. It could be fluke but that's my experience. The only shows I've seen that were really good were:

1. A Moon for the Misbegotten - Eugene O'neil - with our good friend Kevin Spacey
2. Dying For It - by Nikolai Erdman - Very Chekhovian and brilliant! The way Chekhov should be played but most often isn't.

3. Avenue Q - Big West End puppet show. Brilliant Satire. Grew from a fringe show
in New York.
4. Love's Labours Lost at The Globe

Whew. Glad I got all that off my chest.

Monday, December 17, 2007

The Calm After the Storm

Whew. Made it.

The last several weeks of term were a crazy ride. I was, in the famous words of my favourite singer Paul Hewson, Running to Stand Still. Things got really hectic with exams and all. I thought exams would make things easier as, for a week, all I had to do was supervise exams and mark. What I didn't bank on was the fact that I'd have about 100 hours of marking to do. Damn! Then I had to enter all these marks and comments into their reports. Damn! Then I had two parents nights! DAMN! Then I had my regular classes that I had to plan for, mark, and keep focused while I had all the exam marking and report writing to do! DUH-AMN! Did I mention all the Christmas stuff?

Whew. I was one tired puppy last Friday.

The last week we also had a choir service that ran until 9:00 pm on Tuesday. That was quite impressive actually. Then we had a staff get dinner where we had to pay for our food but, get this, the school paid for our drinks! There was a Karaoke machine involved and I got the party started with a smoking version of Tom Jones' Sex Bomb. It was a great time. These teachers really know how to have a good time!

Then Saturday night the Sports department went out for their annual "Hootenany." This is traditionally held on the last Thursday of term and involves much more drinking and revellery. Friday was only a half day with an assembly, parties for the kids, and then a staff lunch which involved yes...more food and wine.

I came home at 4:30, slept until 7:30 then went to bed at midnight only to wake up at 12:00 on Saturday.

Things have gone well over all this term. I'm still finding my feet as a teacher but that's par for the course I suppose. I've run into problems with classroom management of all things - which I really didn't expect. It's been difficult to get the kids to behave and I actually got called into the office about it. I think I turned a major corner in the last week as I instituted a system of warnings and consequences and was ruthless with my insistence that they be respected. The kids turned around quite quickly. Now I just have to keep consistent next year.

Babagenouche and I had our annual Christmas bash and it was a real success. We had a bunch of people over on Saturday night and had a rip roaring good time. We got to meet the downstairs neighbours as well as they came up to party it up.

Overall things are going really well. I feel much more satisfied and relaxed this year. I feel like I've settled into the country to a large degree. It's nice to go places and know where you are and not be constantly confused and disoriented. Also, Gen and I are both working so we can actually pay our bills for the first time in 2 years. This makes life a lot more relaxing.

I'll miss everyone in Canada over Christmas though.

Oh...if you're reading this feel free to live a comment so I know you're out there damn you!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Rest in Peace Mr. Large

I opened the paper today on the way to work and read what could have been a typical headline in any newspaper in the world: Boy of 14 knifed for 'racist slur'.

Then I saw this picture:









...and I realized it was one of my students from last year.

My first reaction was a loud gasp as I stared unbelievingly at the paper.

I read on and it turns out he was knifed in the head after getting in a "row" with two boys and uttering a racial slur. He died in hospital.

Here's what I know about him. He was no saint that's for sure. He was at my old school (a school for children with emotional and behavioural issues - read fucked up lives) and he could be one of the most abusive people you would ever meet. He was involved in a gang, was a bully, was one of the most relentlessly dominating personalities I've ever met, he stole - in short he was no fun to be around.

He was born into a horrible life. His older brother was already in jail. His family in general known to be a complete menace in the area. I never heard a word spoken about his father.

But here's what else I know about him. Since getting out of jail last year he had been trying hard to change. Even though he was terrible to be around in some ways he was much better than he had been when he was at the school in the preceding years. It seemed the coin had dropped and he was trying to change.

He was eager to learn, desperate for attention, hungry for any kind of positive compliment, full of charm and eager for fun. I called the school and found out - to my astonishment that he'd won something called the Jack Petchey award this year which is an award given to a student each month based on their behaviour and progress. Ironically he'd just made an anti-knife crime poster he was really proud of and he'd been having a good year.

He was no saint but his death really shook me. I spent most of the time on the train holding back tears. I mean, here I've been stressed over all the work I'm doing and the deadlines and all that stuff seems pretty meaningless when a 14 year old kid who was given almost no chance to make it in this world gets stabbed. 14. Stabbed by 14 year olds. Why is it always young kids who are the most dangerous? Anyway, that's a question for another day I suppose.

I pray that his death and his life serve as a reminder and a wake up call to other students in the school and others around him who are going down similar paths. I hope the teachers at that school are ok. They're miraculous people I tell you. They hang in with these kids no matter what. It's an near impossible job. Trust me I know. I couldn't do it.

Achem. If there is a God out there I'd like to send this out to him and hope it does something.

Rest in Peace Mr. Large. I hope you find the peace, love and happiness in death that was so elusive to you in life.