What's Up, Doc?

I attended 2 screenings at Hot Docs, the documentary film festival in Toronto. The first film is Korean Wedding Chest by Ulrike Ottinger.

In Korean Wedding Chest, new and old wedding rituals are explored by Ottinger. Without a narrator, we are left to ponder the meaning of the rituals on our own. Sometimes, a participant may clue us in; for example, a shop-keeper at a wedding store explained the various items that goes into a Korean wedding chest. I particularly enjoyed looking at the old rituals such as the wedding chest or the traditional tea ceremony (similar to that of Chinese weddings). Some of the cheesiness of a modern wedding (which North American weddings are also not exempt from) also got some chuckles.

However, the lack of explanation short-changed or deceived the viewer with respect to other rituals. At the beginning, there were scenes involving a shamaness and also a temple called The Temple of Wish-Fulfillment. But these were not tied in to the wedding that comprised the bulk of the film. It was unclear to me how a shamaness might be involved in a Korean wedding. Does she preside over some weddings? Regarding the temple, do people get married there? Do they come with their sweethearts and swear their love or get engaged?

Other rituals presented would involve so few Koreans or are not even Korean-specific that it seems disingenuous to include in the film. One showed a couple getting a picture from a booth. This picture has been rendered by the machine into an "oil painting". Other options include pencil sketch, watercolour, etc. Well, I saw a functionally identical booth at my local mall. Another scene had couples declaring their love by writing their names on a "padlock of love" and chaining it to a fence along with other love padlocks. A quick search on the internet reveals that this fad probably started in Europe in recent years, and given that the love fence is located on top of a single building in Seoul, this non-Korean expression would statistically be practiced by a tiny, tiny minority of Koreans. As such, it has about as much relevance as showing teens writing "K+L 4ever" on bus seats in a film about North American wedding rituals.

3 thumbs up (out of 5).

Elementary, My Dear Watson

I attended a pop concert at Trinity-St.Paul's United Church on Saturday with headliner Patrick Watson, a Montreal native, and opening act Laura Barrett. Short review of the night: I liked their music though I didn't love it.

I first heard Laura Barrett at last year's Word on the Street book festival. She writes interesting, quirky songs and her primary musical is the marimba (or thumb piano). Since then, she has gotten more mainstream exposure including a profile in the Globe and Mail. Judging from her MySpace page over the last year or so, her music has taken her to some interesting places and venues.

Her songs are probably better appreciated with the lusher arrangements on her latest album or in a more intimate setting. In the larger setting of the church and with a stripped down band, her songs had a plinkety-plink sameness. The enthusiasm that first greeted her died down to polite applause after the second song. Only the final song "Deception Island Optimists Club", a more "conventional" love song, was well received. Perhaps she should have done more songs where she played the piano.

I came for Laura, I stayed for Patrick. Unlike myself who knew nothing about Patrick Watson, most people were obviously there for this singer, especially the women who made up about 70% of the audience. In any case, Patrick was backed by a 3 member band as well as the occasional 4 piece strings section. Like Laura, he doesn't write too many love songs either. His music was great to listen to but I had a hard time understanding the lyrics. He frequently mushed the words into one long melody line of "ah-wah-shah-blah-rah-tah-you". Overall, as a 1st time listener, I felt there was a sameness to the songs which I'll call "Anthem Pop".

Anthem Pop begins with the singer and a simple backing of perhaps piano or guitar. The drummer might provide some soft accompaniment on vibraphone, wooden blocks, or some other "percussion"-y sounds. Next comes bass and perhaps some strings. By the 2nd chorus, an insistent bass drum drives the song forward. By the time of the extended coda, a frantic rhythm is laid down by the drummer, and guitar and piano have become cacophanous. The singer has gone into full "white man wailing" mode (as A.O. Scott once described the movie Once).

It certainly makes the heart beat faster. But when more than half the songs were like this, I started to think "Hey, didn't Arcade Fire do this song?" This impression was not helped when the band waded into the audience with megaphone in hand during the encore. (Yes, Arcade Fire does that too). To be fair, Patrick Watson has at least 3 albums out. So given that he probably only did 1/3 of his repertoire, hopefully it means that he only writes maybe 20% Anthem Pop? The 2 waltz-like (3/4 time) songs that I heard were quite lovely. Overall though, a fun evening of music in a great venue.

Yuzu? I do!

$75 (Spring) omakase dinner at Yuzu (not including tax, sake, and tip)

Courses:

1. Monkfish pâté in a yuzu ponzu (vinaigrette) sauce. A delicious start. I don't know if it was the monkfish or the preparation but the dish tasted very similar to pâté, soft, meaty with the earthy flavour of liver.
2. 3 amuse-bouches: bamboo shoot on a bed of seaweed, tempura king crab claw, and pig marrow jelly. The bamboo was fresh and refreshing; the crab claw was like a very high-end version of what you'd find in a chinese restaurant (in other words, tasty fried seafood!); and the pig marrow was turned into a gelatinous cube stuffed with shiitake mushroom. A very interesting texture with just a hint of animal fat.
3. Clear soup with snapper wrapped in sakura leaf, with sakura flowers, mushrooms, and asparagus. A gentle broth, not too salty, perfect for spring. Soft but chewy snapper. The sakura leaf didn't taste like much but the flower had a strong, salted/briny flavour (very interesting).
4. A small sashimi plate with Greek snapper and o toro (blue fin tuna belly) with shiso. The tuna was rich and buttery. The Greek snapper had a strong, smoky taste; something I've never tasted with raw fish.
   
5. Grilled black cod (in a miso marinade) with an assortment of mushrooms, asparagus, and herbs on a hoba leaf. Perfectly cooked fish, no more need be said.
6. Grilled snapper neck with briny burdock. The dish that gave me the most pause as the fins were still attached and sticking straight up from the plate. Luckily that was just for presentation, there is a lot of tasty flesh attached to that neck.
7. A selection of sushi: tempura unagi, white fish (forgot the type) ocean trout, scallop, japanese snapper. Fresh and delicious.
8. Green tea ice cream surrounded by flowers with leaves made from fried gyoza flour, freshly made mochi balls rolled in dried bean paste. A very satisfying end to the meal.

Previously, at $60, the omakase at Yuzu was a steal. Now, at $75, plus a cheap $18 bottle of clean, chilled sake, the bill is starting to add up. However, the dishes are imaginative with excellent ingredients and the service is always impeccable. So do as I do, put away that $20-25 everytime you feel the urge to go to that cheap all-you-can-eat sushi joint. In no time at all, you will have enough to get the good stuff.

I was also given a sampler of sparkling sake. What an interesting experience: like champagne, but not! (I'm so eloquent). I wouldn't drink sparkling sake for an entire meal, but a small glass before or after dinner, that would certainly hit the spot.

Chef has started the same tradition that exists at Japango, his other place. Regulars get their own chopsticks, stored in wooden boxes placed behind the sushi bar. I wonder how many omakase dinners I have to eat to get my own?

Northern Paradise

A few weeks ago, on my way to the Ottawa airport, I had a conversation with the taxi driver. He is a Lebanese mechanical engineer who had a successful career working for oil companies in the Gulf for the past 10 years. On the advice of his sister, he emigrated to Canada last winter. Since arriving, he has been driving a taxi for the past 5 months. Of course, he did not want to continue ferrying people about forever. He was hopeful that once he is recertified, he will be able to find work in his field somewhere out west in Alberta.

I hope that he will become one of the successful immigrant stories and not another 'PhD driving a taxi' dead-end. I have heard more than my share of immigrant professionals who have had to give up on their career: first hand, second hand (via my mom who works with many immigrants), or third hand (via the many stories reported in the media). The lucky ones were able to return to their home country, most settle here with bitterness in their heart.

Someone should gather these testimonials and start a website: dontcometocanada.com or perhaps the less hyperbolic truthaboutimmigration.ca.

As a final note, on his very first taxi fare, a local Canadian stiffed him to the tune of $30. Interpret that as you will.