IIDD, June 29th

Hi Zircon, King of Cones!

Lovely to hear from you. How are the Medicinites faring? Please say hello to them and to Murray and his wife, as well. We'll think of you two, while we are tippling here at The Harbour Terrace Canada Day BBQ, swooping over the Rockies like eagles!

Cora Lee and her Book Club are having dinner here tonight. Had planned a picnic at the beach but weather is a bit iffy. Will take in Merchant of Venice at Bard afterwards. Sarge and I will go for a ride shortly, out to UBC and then along Marine Drive to Crown and then back, for a round trip of about 51K.

Last night, I cashed in one of my Father's Day presents. Chloë took me to see Midnight in Paris at Fifth Avenue. I really enjoyed Woody's telling exploration of nostalgia. Somewhat reminiscent of The Purple Rose of Cairo, inasmuch as he uses extremely credible, seamless time-travel here, as opposed to appearance/reality, in latter. Very, very clever and witty, as always. Central character is, I think, a stand-in for him, both physically, emotionally and mentally, as played in many of his earlier films. I think it works splendidly. Simply loved the delicious barbs directed towards crass consumerism, ultra-right conservatism, pompous academics, etc., delivered infuriatingly funnily, in the main, by his naive, bumbling alter-ego, or else superbly delineated by the character targets themselves. Allen even manages to skewer, if somewhat more gently, the literary and artistic icons even he bows down before. Parigi, itself, as Coriandre suggested, upon her return from seeing film last Sunday, is certainly one of the stars but not one who demands attention all of the time. More a stunningly beautiful Earth Mother who cradles and nurtures her struggling off-spring, some responding to her embrace with awe, love and appreciation, others blind to her sheer wonder and magic, seeing only nasty reflections of their crabbed, truncated, blinkered selves. Sound track is superb, evoking the mystery and majesty and energy of the city, over its history, and love in all its myriad, and perhaps, most importantly, life affirming, deeply human forms. Bravo Mr. Allen!!!

You are always welcome at The Island Inn. Just let us know so that we can eject any Freeloaders who might be squatting when you plan to visit! Fondestos to you and Jan. Cheers, Patrizio!

Hi Maya and Declan!

Lovely to discover that Declan is taking Spanish! Book is by a close friend, Harriet Hart, fellow student from United College days, now living in Mexico. We stayed with her and Paul, her husband, on the shores of Lake Chapala, an hour from Guadalajara, this past March. Book is based, in part, on the birds in the area.

Not sure if Chloë mentioned it but on Tuesday I cashed in one of my Father's Day presents. She took me to see Midnight in Paris at Fifth Avenue. Bumped in Natasha and had a short chat. Hadn't realized that she had just graduated from SFU. Lovely young woman!

Cora Lee and her Book Club had dinner here last night. Had planned a picnic at the beach but weather was a bit iffy. Took in Merchant of Venice at Bard afterwards. Sarge and I went for a ride, once he was back from work at 5:30pm, out to UBC and then along Marine Drive to Crown and then back, for a round trip of about 51K. We were sipping maltage when The Sisterhood returned. Unfortunatley, play wasn't all that well done, according to most. Too bad as we certainly found As You Like It to be a more than enjoyable production, a few weeks ago.

Hope to see you domani. Cheers, Patrizio!