STRANGERS IN A STRANGE - AND WONDERFUL - LAND

In a break from the constant drum of busy-ness, Amy was able to take a week off and bring us to the Toronto Film Festival. As I recall, we saw some movies... between the numerous and rewarding stops for food. Good food. Yummy food. Terrific food. Gastronomic food. Pho-food. Oyster food. Dim sum food. Charcuterie food. Beer... well, beer!

Even though it was Canada, I got (minor) sunburn walking around, and walking and walking around more. The scale, the density and the interlocked neighborhoods remind me of San Francisco. Toronto also boasts 24-hour streeetcars, (aka trollies) and a subway system. The ROM combines art and natural history in an amazing structure. The Contemporary Art Museum combines a penchant for video projects with Bay-Area worthy attitudinalism. And the BATA Shoe Museum is, well, unique and well worth a trip!


Screenings at TIFF we well organized, as is the website (www.tiff.net) and the whole shebang depends on a sub-population of volunteers in orange shirts. The movie-plexes are also a step up: shopping on other floors, food courts and even bars! We sat through a range of ten stories, from silly Sicilian money-borrowers to end-of-the-world wanderers; from continental Indian Romeo and Juliet amid a religious divide, to a gay Filipino man in his last years. The latter was Amy's favorite; mine was about a blind man who taught echo location to kids at a school for the blind.

I know what you're all thinking: "Can't wait for next year's report!"
Cheers,
B+A