About a year and a half ago, I fell completely in love with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir – a team of Canadian ice dancers. In light of their gold medal victory, I feel completely justified as many of my friends have expressed their awe after watching them. Personally, I also find it hard NOT to love them – I mean, they’ve skated together since they were 7 and 9, it’s obvious that there’s a lot of love and joy in their skating, they’re skilled, beautiful to watch and after meeting them at Skate Canada, I can say that they are wonderfully congenial people. In any case, let’s recap what they did at the Olympics, how they won gold and what their win means in the grander scheme of things. (more…)

Just like any other university student out there, we are all bound to procrastinate. Sometimes, you just sit there are don’t feel like doing anything at all, other times, you’re just checking Facebook and Twitter every 5 minutes in hopes of something interesting. If you’re stuck on how to procrastinate, here are a few blogs and sites that are an endless source of entertainment. (I thank my fellow friend and blogger, Victoria, for introducing me to most of these sites.)

(more…)

Waking up in the morning is always an ordeal for me. Seeing that I sleep at 3 or 4 in the morning, nothing is harder than dragging yourself out of bed at 8:30 to get to your 10AM class. To make the process of waking up easier, my iPod docking station is always there to wake me up with lovely tunes at the proper time. Admittedly, my favourite music to wake up to has to be the music from Carmen – even if it is overused figure skating music. (Also, yes, I have opera on my iPod, go ostracize me if you dare.)

Anyways, tonight, I had the wonderful fortune of getting one of the rare tickets to the Carmen dress rehearsal staged by the Canadian Opera Company. (My source of dress rehearsal opera tickets told me that they were completely sold out.) Tickets for the regular shows – on from January 27th to February 27th -  may also be sold out, but if you’re interested and perhaps lucky you can purchase tickets on the Canadian Opera Company website.

As for the show itself, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The orchestra and sets were very impressive (my favourite set being the one from Act II where the gypsies are in front of an inn) and the cast, although rather large was charismatic and fun to watch. Rinat Shaham – who played the title character – had the misfortune of stumbling upon this reviewer (who is, admittedly, an opera newbie) whose standard Carmen is the legendary Maria Callas, who has no equal; however, she held her own for most of the performance. The unfortunate corporal, Don José performed by Bryan Hymel was well cast and delivered a steady and touching performance. Songs by the two gypsy girls, played by Teiya Kasahara and Lauren Segal were also highly entertaining and formed some of the best parts of the opera.

My special mentions however, will go to Jessica Muirhead, who played the innocent Micaela with so much commitment and passion that she sent shivers up my spine when she was pleading with Don José to return to his mother. Another special mention will be sent to the youth or children’s chorus who displayed a kind of professionalism that was beyond their age.

All in all, it was a lovely evening of beautiful music, interesting choreography and a wonderful opera. I highly doubt that Carmen needs any more advertising as it is, but if you do get a chance, I encourage you to see it.

Picture by the Canadian Opera Company.

Since it’s Hayao Miyazaki’s birthday on January 5th, I figured it would be nice to have an article published around that date. If you don’t know who Miyazaki is, all I have to say is, “Shame on you!!!!!!!!” Hayao Miyazaki is a renowned Japanese animation director. He’s responsible for a lot of wonderful movies like the 2002 Academy Award Winner Spirited Away and other classics like My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service. His latest movie, Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea (watch the trailer here) was out in theatres during the summer.

Now, what is Studio Ghibli? Well, it’s the animation studio he co-founded with director Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki. This studio has seriously produced some really magical films.

Anyways, unlike my article on Japanese literature, I can’t just give “picks” on Studio Ghibli films, you have to watch them all! (If you’ve never seen a Ghibli film, I declare that you have no soul.) As a result, I’ll list the top 5 things that make this animation studio so wonderful. (more…)

The holidays are here and reading for pleasure is in season, so as a fan of Japanese literature (even if I don’t study it), here are a few books I really think you should check out. (Yes, they are translated to English.) Some of them can be found at your local bookstore, while others will require perhaps a trip to Robarts or an e-mail to a Japanese literature professor who happens to have an obscure translation. Most books can probably be found at the Japan Foundation Library, where you can get a library card for free. (You’ll need to be a Toronto resident for at least 3 months and a piece of I.D. with your address.) The author’s names will be listed here with the last name last as in the North American custom since they will appear on the covers like this if you’re reading a translation. (more…)

As December rolls right in, we are constantly reminded of our material desires as shopping malls are filled with Christmas trees, deals and stores with gift-wrapping services for the gift-wrapping-challenged. Nonetheless, although I can’t personally give presents to every single one of the wonderful readers at blogUT, I shall offer this article, which will hopefully offer fond memories and just maybe, reclaim the soul that you lost when you came to U of T. Think back to your childhood days as you slept in and had free time, do you remember asking for these things (or paraphernalia relating to these things) for Christmas/Hanukkah/name your winter holiday? (Warning: if you were not born in the late-80s or early 90s, these things may not apply to you. If that is the case, I entitle you to shake your head and mutter, “Crazy kids, back in my day…” and then write an entry on your own childhood fads and phases.) (more…)

After going to Homesense Skate Canada International 2009 this weekend, I figured I should write something about the competition. However being a Grand Prix event in which most of the skaters are barely known, I thought that it would be more helpful if I wrote about the athletes most people would cheer for by default – in other words, the athletes from Canada. Being in Canada, the competition featured the country’s best figure skaters in all 4 disciplines: men, ladies, pairs and ice dance; as a result Skate Canada is perfect for seeing how each skater does against the international competition, as well as taking a glimpse of the results of the backstage politicking that, unfortunately, goes on in this subjective sport. As subjectivity is fundamental to figure skating, I cannot promise a completely objective post; instead, what I can offer is a less nationalistic alternative to the blind pro-Canada garbage that CBC tends to spout. (more…)