![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sylkeNathan's dad came to visit us and took us up over the border for a weekend trip to Toronto. We saw a few shows, ate really well, and in general had a good time. We stayed one night in a Westin, and Nathan again expressed his distaste for high-class hotels that not only charge for things that other hotels provide for free (like a toothbrush or razor), they also leave these things and others (like snacks) sitting out in plain sight with the price listed next to them. It's actually rather tacky, and Nathan thinks it's almost underhanded or dirty. It's not uncommon to provide a wet bar and charge for food taken out of that, but I don't often see a box of toiletries sitting next to the sink with a pricetag of $12.50CA. We went to see Mamma Mia! our first evening. It's a musical built around ABBA songs, so we were treated to renditions of Dancing Queen, Super Trooper, and Take A Chance On Me. It was enjoyable and fun, but short on plot and character development.
Saturday we wandered around downtown Toronto, went up to the top of the CN tower, ate a nice seafood dinner (at which I finally had those crablegs I've been craving), and went to see a performance called simply "Brachetti". It's a showcase for an Italian quick-change artist named Arturo Brachetti (pronounced bra-KET-ty) who, while quite adept at his art, tends to play to an audience about a generation behind the one he gets. Arturo did a tribute to an Italian film director by impersonating a dozen characters from his films, but not even Nathan's father recognized the majority of them, and I didn't recognize any. The odd thing is, Arturo is only 30 or so. I'm guessing he learned a lot of these films and characters from an elder master who taught him everything he knows, and his taste in films and characters comes from an 80-year-old man. Also, a lot of the performance seemed to rely on special effects. Movies projected onto the stage, a huge revolving box, flashy costumes, all as a vehicle for a one-trick pony. He did a little basic slight-of-hand, but primarily did character impressions. His performance style is better suited for a circus or a street show. One "skit" involved taking a hat brim with no crown and a reinforced brim, and through various contortions forming it into 20 hats. Shadow puppets and a one-man six-character western rounded out the rest of the show. I wasn't as impressed as the reviewers had been.
On Sunday we browsed the Eton center and visited the Textiles museum. What shocked me was that they had very little in the way of barriers between the patrons and the articles. There was a display on Central and South America civilizations, and included was a wool tapestry dating back to 600-1200 AD that was open to the air. If I was less scrupulous, I could have disregarded the request to not touch the articles (no security cameras visible anywhere) and actually felt it. The same with a cotton trim dating to 100-300 AD. We were impressed with the lack of security. For evening entertainment we got a dinner-comedy club combo: dinner at a really good italian restaurant and an evening at the Second City, inspiration for Saturday Night Live and starting place for such greats as Dan Akroyd, Mike Meyers, and John Candy. Dinner was really very excellent, so much so that I'd consider coming back to Toronto just as an excuse to go back to that restaurant. The comedy wasn't bad. It was admittedly funnier after the wine I had with dinner, but it was still funny.
On Monday we drove back home and took Leo to Dinosaur Barbecue for dinner, and that was my 4-day weekend.
Saturday we wandered around downtown Toronto, went up to the top of the CN tower, ate a nice seafood dinner (at which I finally had those crablegs I've been craving), and went to see a performance called simply "Brachetti". It's a showcase for an Italian quick-change artist named Arturo Brachetti (pronounced bra-KET-ty) who, while quite adept at his art, tends to play to an audience about a generation behind the one he gets. Arturo did a tribute to an Italian film director by impersonating a dozen characters from his films, but not even Nathan's father recognized the majority of them, and I didn't recognize any. The odd thing is, Arturo is only 30 or so. I'm guessing he learned a lot of these films and characters from an elder master who taught him everything he knows, and his taste in films and characters comes from an 80-year-old man. Also, a lot of the performance seemed to rely on special effects. Movies projected onto the stage, a huge revolving box, flashy costumes, all as a vehicle for a one-trick pony. He did a little basic slight-of-hand, but primarily did character impressions. His performance style is better suited for a circus or a street show. One "skit" involved taking a hat brim with no crown and a reinforced brim, and through various contortions forming it into 20 hats. Shadow puppets and a one-man six-character western rounded out the rest of the show. I wasn't as impressed as the reviewers had been.
On Sunday we browsed the Eton center and visited the Textiles museum. What shocked me was that they had very little in the way of barriers between the patrons and the articles. There was a display on Central and South America civilizations, and included was a wool tapestry dating back to 600-1200 AD that was open to the air. If I was less scrupulous, I could have disregarded the request to not touch the articles (no security cameras visible anywhere) and actually felt it. The same with a cotton trim dating to 100-300 AD. We were impressed with the lack of security. For evening entertainment we got a dinner-comedy club combo: dinner at a really good italian restaurant and an evening at the Second City, inspiration for Saturday Night Live and starting place for such greats as Dan Akroyd, Mike Meyers, and John Candy. Dinner was really very excellent, so much so that I'd consider coming back to Toronto just as an excuse to go back to that restaurant. The comedy wasn't bad. It was admittedly funnier after the wine I had with dinner, but it was still funny.
On Monday we drove back home and took Leo to Dinosaur Barbecue for dinner, and that was my 4-day weekend.
