Sunday, November 21, 2010

117th Surfman Award: The White Squirrell of Trinty Bellwoods


On my birthday, I was taking a stroll through Trinty Bellwoods Park with my wife and son and we came across the famous White squirrel. Of course there are more than one and in fact we saw three in one day about two years ago, which I still can't believe. Years can some times go by and I will not see the white squirrel at all, so imagine my surprise to see him on my birthday - I hope it is a good omen!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

116th Surfman Award: Metropolis


Last Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a screening of Metropolis at the new TIFF Lightbox Theatre. It was so incredible, and ranked up there as one of my all time favourite movie experiences. As follows described by the TIFF program:

To mark the premiere of the new restoration of Metropolis and its 25 minutes of previously lost material, Gabriel Thibaudeau, celebrated pianist and composer for the Cinémathèque québécoise—who premiered his original score for Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North at TIFF 2005—was commissioned to create a new score for Fritz Lang's science-fiction masterpiece. Debuted this past summer at Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival, this new score brings two chamber orchestras to the stage to express the class struggle at the heart of the film: a soaring string quintet and keyboard represent the elitist spirit of the city, a booming brass quintet with organ embodies the surging power of the subterranean workers, with the two worlds linked through percussion.

Seeing a live orchestra accompany a film that has been described as a classic and than add some lost footage to the mix, well, it was simply a wonderful and magical night for me. Thank you TIFF and Reitman family for this amazing theatre and landmark that will only add to our top city status within the world stage.