Summer in the City

Denis McGrath has a pretty good analysis of the Eckler/Apatow knockoff knock down on his blog, Dead Things On Sticks. Eckler's own missive at Maclean's is here.

The Toronto Fringe Festival is starting up soon. I plan on seeing James Gilpin's Bride of Sasquatch. Beatriz Yuste is a funny gorgeous woman, and I'm going to try and support her. Check out the "Bride of Sasquatch" facebook group or the Fringe program for more details.

The Worldwide Short Film Fest runs June 12-17. Time to start perusing programs.

Lastly, the Luminato festival is on in Toronto right now. The programs are so varied and each sounds so fantastic that reading the website makes me dizzy. There are both ticketed and free events spanning dance, music, literature, theatre, visual arts, and "celebrations". Tonight Lila Downs plays at Harbourfront (free), and the National Ballet has a live simulcast of their performance at the Elgin Theatre (free, but tix required). All in all, from what I've seen and heard from others, this is a festival worth keeping.

I almost forgot! Booked!, "a new reader's festival" is on now too! I've missed most of it, but there are still two days left, including A Tribute to Stephen King tomorrow at the John Bassett theatre.

Please comment on what you've seen or intend to see!

As for books, I've been on a bit of a nonfiction kick, reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It is absolutely fascinating, and very worthwhile if you want to learn a little bit about your own subconscious. I've reserved his previous book, The Tipping Point from the library.

I also read Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars. In the past year or two I have developed an intense fascination with neurology. Sacks deals with seven different cases in this book, which is a really interesting overview of several neurological disorders, including Tourette's and Autism. I found that when I was done, though, I wanted to research some of the cases in more depth on my own. I think I'll have to clear a whole shelf as I go through Sacks' books. Some good companions to 'Anthropologist' are Dr. Temple Grandin's own book , Animals in Translation, as well as the documentary and website of Dr. Duncan McKinlay, Life's a Twitch.

Right now I'm reading fiction again: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I'm only a third of the way through, but it's terrific. I wish I'd read it five years ago.

As for the writing, I've got 62 pages to go with the first draft revising. Not bad, but not great. There are two parts of the manuscript that desperately need surgery of some kind. I'm just not sure which kind. And if I amputate, will I have to write up a whole prosthetic to help the thing walk? What? You got a problem with my metaphors? Huh?

Ok, let me know what events you're attending. Or don't. Toronto's not that big, I'll probably see you there.