Why?

The Jacket (2005)

If you feel like watching a an interesting movie, I suggest The Jacket (2005). It is a little on the heavy side in terms of subject matter which includes experimenting on patients who appear to be mentally ill, but the movie is based on the novel written in 1915 by Jack London originally under the title The Star Rover. The difference between the novel and the movie is that in The Star Rover, the prisoner endures torture by escaping in his mind into the universe as if he were a space traveler, in contrast, the movie has the patient shift in time which is induced by experimental drugs. The movie is well acted and of course it is an interesting story.

Virtual Shopping: Game Night

My friends and I are big "game night" people. At least twice a month we get together to battle our way through some board games. And what better way to class up game night a bit than with these oh so snazzy classic board games from Target (in wooden boxes no less). These games are so nice you could leave out on a bookshelf.

the girl in the green dress on facebook!

well i finally broke down and created a facebook page! after more than a few readers have asked for one, i decided maybe it was time. i'll be adding some extra context from time to time and hope that it will be a good way to connect with the people who visit me every day. so like me please!

the girl in the green dress on facebook!

well i finally broke down and created a facebook page! after more than a few readers have asked for one, i decided maybe it was time. i'll be adding some extra context from time to time and hope that it will be a good way to connect with the people who visit me every day. so like me please!

charles and dee wyly theater.

kelly and i were lucky enough to provide felt panels for the rem koolhaas-designed wyly theater in dallas, texas. recently we had photographer sandy carson shoot some of the spaces and we're so excited about this amazing building being a showcase of our felt! click here to see more photos.

charles and dee wyly theater.

kelly and i were lucky enough to provide felt panels for the rem koolhaas-designed wyly theater in dallas, texas. recently we had photographer sandy carson shoot some of the spaces and we're so excited about this amazing building being a showcase of our felt! click here to see more photos.

The Key To Loompaland

Everybody loves to hate the little Mr/Miss Know-It-All, especially in movies.

Remember the scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) where Gene Wilder's Wonka plays the musical lock in order for everyone to enter the chocolate room?

Well, if you're an opera fan, you may have gasped when know-it-all Mrs. Teevee incorrectly identifies The Marriage of Figaro Overture as written by Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and not W.A. Mozart.

Did you shout at the TV like I did?


Fast forward to 3:45 to see the travesty

Mozart-lovers everywhere agree: maybe her son Mike shouldn't have been the only one shrunken by the Wonkavision TV.

~ Ling Chan, Social Media Manager

Lobster Pie

One of my very favorite cookbooks is one called POT PIES: COMFORT FOOD UNDER COVER. It is full of recipes for, you guessed it, pot pies...but not just the typical kind with the pastry crust. Nope, in this fabulous book basically anything that involves something covering the main ingredient counts as a pot pie, so this cookbook includes Shellfish Pie with Artichoke Crust. And Shepherd's Pie Topped With Garlic Mashed Potatoes. And Tuscan Braised Pork Pie with Polenta Crust.

But my very, very favorite recipe in this book is for something that is simply called Lobster Pie. So let me explain this one a little. It is actually Lobster Pie with a Buttered Parmesan Parsley Breadcrumb Topping.

I know.

I know!

You take two lobsters (which your supermarket has steamed for you and your significant other has shelled for you) and cut the meat into pieces, and heat it up in a sauce made out of butter and flour and clam juice and sherry and cream, and pour it into an oven-safe dish. You probably won't need all the sauce -- just use your best judgement to see how much you need to make it sauced but not too soupy.



Then you take some nice bread - I used french bread -- and whiz it up in your food processor. Add some melted butter and chopped parsley and fresh grated Parmesan cheese to the crumbs and spread it over your lobster mixture.



Bake it all up until the crumbs are golden.



I promise you, it is all you hope and dream it will be.

Lobster Pie, adapted from POT PIES: COMFORT FOOD UNDER COVER.

• 4 tablespoons butter, plus 6 tablespoons melted
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups clam juice
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 lobsters, cooked, shelled and meat cut into chunks
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups soft french bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan and add flour, whisking until smooth. Gradually whisk in the clam stock until the sauce is smooth and thickened, about 5 minutes or so.

2. Add sherry and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add lobster. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper to taste. Using slotted spoon, transfer lobster to oven-proof casserole and spoon just enough sauce over to cover the lobster without making it too soupy.

3. Preheat oven to 375. Place bread crumbs, parsley and cheese in mixing bowl, pour melted butter over top and mix thoroughly. Spread crumbs over lobster.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crumbs are golden. Serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe.

I'm Ready For My Close-Up

Rejoice!

The Smart Pics photo booth has been confirmed for the remainder of The Marriage of Figaro run. This means you can pose and mug to your heart's content!

Take a picture of yourself. Take a photo with your date. Grab some random peeps in the lobby for one gigantic group shot. (just watch out for those photobombers!)

The best part? (besides the "love it" or "try again" option) You can email it to yourself as a keepsake of your night out, or you can send it to someone to let them know what they're missing out on!

The Smart Pics photo booth is located right by the east end lobby staircase. Or you can just look for the line-up.

UPDATE at 610pm: Due to unforeseen problems with the Windows programming, the Smart Pics photo booth will not be running tonight. Sorry for any disappointment caused. Darn technology! The Smart Pics photo booth will be back up and operational for the Saturday and Tuesday performances.

~ Ling Chan, Social Media Manager

Sky

A very bright blue sky with rather a cold wind.

59th Street Bridge

Last night a full, brilliant moon. So difficult to capture with a point and shoot camera -- but that doesn't mean I don't try

Ottawa Honours West Vancouver Arts Dynamos, Yulanda And Mohammed Faris

Photo credit: Les Bazso, PNG

Picture a whopping great iceberg, one that looms large above the waterline -- that's the public side of what Yulanda and Moh have done, lending high-profile help to such organizations as the Scotiabank Dance Centre or Vancouver Opera. But the bulk of what's been accomplished lies hidden beneath the surface, in a discreet legacy of anonymous donations and endless hours spent in quiet negotiation to further a project.

Click here to read more from today's Vancouver Sun.

Do You #operaplot?

Think you can sum up an opera plot in 140 characters or less?

The very popular Twitter contest, #operaplot, is back. Last year there were over 500 entries competing for prizes from 32 opera houses. Click here for the 2009 winning tweets.

This year, the prizes are bigger and more drool-worthy. The grand prize is from Opera Theatre Company in Dublin: a pair of tickets to The Marriage of Figaro, 3 nights accommodation and up to 1000€ to cover flights.

To take a look at some of the imaginative and hilarious entries, click here.

If you have a Twitter account and would like to try your hand at #operaplot, (as well as having your tweets judged by none other than tenor Jonas Kaufmann), the contest runs until midnight Friday 30th April EST.

~ Ling Chan, Social Media Manager

holy crap, its 15 days away!

kelly and i are officially in the countdown-to-icff craze. its a mere two weeks away and though we thought we had tons of time, we are scrambling to finish everything up. we're still waiting on our printed materials (still working on the layouts actually) and a die to produce the pieces that will be installed. but monday in a moment of pure kismet, we found a bench perfect for the booth at front. its simple, sturdy and (as luck would have it) made by a local person (which always makes us happy). we picked it up yesterday and are having the cushion reupholstered with 2mm felt in the charcoal color. check one thing off the list!

holy crap, its 15 days away!

kelly and i are officially in the countdown-to-icff craze. its a mere two weeks away and though we thought we had tons of time, we are scrambling to finish everything up. we're still waiting on our printed materials (still working on the layouts actually) and a die to produce the pieces that will be installed. but monday in a moment of pure kismet, we found a bench perfect for the booth at front. its simple, sturdy and (as luck would have it) made by a local person (which always makes us happy). we picked it up yesterday and are having the cushion reupholstered with 2mm felt in the charcoal color. check one thing off the list!

think-make-think (second edition).

think-make-think (second edition) by clifton burt.

in april of 2007, john maeda quietly posted a haiku he had written to his blog. it was entitled think-make-think, and to me it fulfilled the potential of maeda's simplicity. over the next few months, that haiku often found its way to the forefront of my mind. when our studio acquired the remnants of a discarded arrow sign, it was clear to me that think-make-think was a perfect fit, both in form and function.

think-make-think (second edition).

think-make-think (second edition) by clifton burt.

in april of 2007, john maeda quietly posted a haiku he had written to his blog. it was entitled think-make-think, and to me it fulfilled the potential of maeda's simplicity. over the next few months, that haiku often found its way to the forefront of my mind. when our studio acquired the remnants of a discarded arrow sign, it was clear to me that think-make-think was a perfect fit, both in form and function.

clever little bag.

clever little bag by yves behar for puma.

yves behar's latest project for puma, which is on show as part of the design museum's new exhibition, sustainable futures. behar teamed up with the sports brand to redesign the packaging for its shoes, and puma says the result, named clever little bag, will reduce paper consumption by 65 per cent, saving 20 million mega joules of electricity each year.

clever little bag.

clever little bag by yves behar for puma.

yves behar's latest project for puma, which is on show as part of the design museum's new exhibition, sustainable futures. behar teamed up with the sports brand to redesign the packaging for its shoes, and puma says the result, named clever little bag, will reduce paper consumption by 65 per cent, saving 20 million mega joules of electricity each year.

Baked Potatoes with Caviar

We love baked potatoes for dinner in my house. One of the teenager's favorite meals is to take a potato and top it with cheese and a poached egg. Sometimes I contaminate it by adding broccoli, but it is still a popular supper item - click below to see.

Baked Potato with Poached Egg

So I am always on the lookout for baked potato recipes that could serve as a meal unto themselves, and this one was a doozy. The New York Times recently ran a piece on twice-baked potatoes that included a few really tempting recipes, and this was one of them. For those of you who haven't experienced the wonder that is a twice-baked potato, you are basically getting a baked potato and a mashed potato all in one heavenly meal. You bake the potato, cool it a little, scoop out the insides, mash it up with whatever your heart desires, spoon it back into the potato shell, and bake it again until the edges are golden and crusty.

In this case, the potato is rubbed with coarse salt before it is baked so that the salt kind of bakes into the potato skin. (Potato chip-like, if you will.) Then when the potato is nice and baked, the inside is mashed up with creme fraiche (you can also use sour cream), butter, chopped chives and salt and pepper. You stuff this incredible mixture back into the potato, bake it until it is golden, and then...take a deep breath...you top it with a little more creme fraiche and a spoonful of caviar or salmon roe. I found a little jar of inexpensive red caviar right by the canned tuna in my supermarket that worked just perfectly.

The teenager, of course, opted to top hers with a poached egg instead of the caviar and creme fraiche. But the Southern husband and I were in creme fraiche/caviar heaven. Give it a try!

Baked Potatoes with Caviar, from The New York Times

4 large russet potatoes (10 to 12 ounces each), scrubbed well

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/4 cup crème fraîche, more for serving

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 teaspoons chopped chives

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 ounces salmon roe, for topping.

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Rub potatoes with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pierce twice with a fork (don’t worry if some salt falls off). Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until skin is crispy and insides are tender when pierced with a fork, 60 to 70 minutes.

2. When potatoes have cooled enough to handle, use a sharp knife to slice off tops. Scoop out insides, leaving about 1/4 inch around skin; transfer potato flesh to a bowl. Add crème fraîche, butter, chives, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; mash with a fork until combined.

3. Stuff potato skins with potato mixture. Return potatoes to oven and bake until heated through, about 10 minutes. Run under broiler for another 1 to 2 minutes until tops are golden brown and crisp. Serve hot, topped with salmon roe and additional crème fraîche, if desired.

Yield: 4 large servings.

Click here for printable recipe

Date Night At The Opera

The Marriage of Figaro is a great date opera. It's chock full of comedy, romance and of course, drama with a capital D.



Mezzo-soprano Megan Latham, who sings the role of Marcellina, agrees:

"I think The Marriage of Figaro is a great date opera because it's truly a soap opera story. You have good guys, bad guys, young love, old promises, emotional disappointments, and reconciliations. Who can't relate to a new bride trying to "train" her betrothed? Or to a young boy so full of sexual energy he can barely stand still? And, let's face it, there's always someone sniffing around other people's love lives trying to interfere.

The Marriage of Figaro is a great date opera because it's about love, in all its forms, and it has a delightfully happy ending!"

Don't miss out! Only 3 performances left! Call the VO box office at 604-683-0222 or buy online here.

Operamania 101: Fiiii-ga-rooooo?

My friend wanted to buy a ticket to The Marriage of Figaro because he wanted to hear that famous song with that famous line "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro....Fiiii-ga-roooooo!"

He, of course, remembered hearing that song in various cartoons growing up:

Bugs Bunny's The Long-Haired Hare

Merrie Melodies' One Froggy Evening

Tom & Jerry's The Cat Above And The Mouse Below

Droopy's Droopy Opera.

MGM Cartoons' Magical Maestro

I had to stop him in his tracks to tell him that the song he was referring to was Largo Al Factotum, which is actually from Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais wrote a trilogy of stories that featured the character Figaro: Le Barbier de Séville (The Barber of Seville), Le Mariage de Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and La Mère coupable (The Guilty Mother).

W.A. Mozart, along with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, made an opera out of Beaumarchais' comedy, The Marriage of Figaro. Rossini and librettist Cesare Sterbini, on the other hand, made an opera out of The Barber of Seville.

A common mistake.

Slightly confused, he wondered if he heard anything from The Marriage of Figaro before.

If he had seen Shawshank Redemption, the answer would be yes. Sull'aria Che soave zeffiretto from Act III of The Marriage of Figaro was used in the 1994 film, which starred Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.



Tim Robbins' character, Andy, locks himself in the prison warden's office and inspires his cellmates by playing Mozart over the prison's PA system. A little humanity in an inhumane place. This lyrical act of defiance was the iconic moment of the movie.

My Figaro-curious friend would also have heard Mozart in Trading Places (1983), The Last Action Hero (1993), The Whole Ten Yards (2004) and Wedding Crashers (2005). All of these movies include snippets from the overture of The Marriage of Figaro. Sometimes it's quite obvious, like in the entire opening credits of Trading Places, whereas you can barely hear it in Wedding Crashers, during the church scene with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.


Clockwise from top left: The Whole Ten Yards, Wedding Crashers, The Last Action Hero, Trading Places

More recently, it was used in last year's hit movie, Zombieland. Forty-three minutes into Zombieland, The Marriage of Figaro, K.492 Overture can be heard as the four main characters decimate an Indian trading post. The quartet wreck havoc on headdresses, cowboy hats, tchotchkes, turquoise jewellery, shelving and windows; a result of pent-up frustrations from living so long in a zombified world.



And as Mozart's overture comes to a sweet end, you'll hear the main character, Columbus, telling us to "Enjoy the little things, even if that means destroying a whole lot of little things."



I think Mozart would approve.

~ Ling Chan, Social Media Manager

Pop Up Posters

And now for something completely unrelated to The Marriage of Figaro!

Kudos to our Special Events Diva, Caroline Hay, for her eagle eye! While channel surfing the other week, Caroline stopped on a show called, Life Unexpected, on the CW channel. (we're not judging, Caroline)

There before her eyes were our Vancouver Opera Golden Anniversary posters; namely Norma and Nixon in China! The locally filmed tv show had hung up our Edel Rodriguez designed posters on a character's wall.



You can see our posters in all its glory between the 1:17 - 2:40 mark.

It's slightly "blink and you'll miss it", so here are the screen captures below:


Nixon in China poster on the left, Norma poster on the right


Nixon in China poster

Nothing gets past Caroline! Thanks for the catch!

~ Ling Chan, Social Media Manager

UPDDATE 5/12: Seems we may have the answer to the mystery of how the posters cropped up on Life Unexpected! A little birdie told me that Shannon Chan-Kent, an understudy for VOIS' Jack Pine and a singer with the UBC/VO Pre-Professional Internship Program, plays one of the characters on the show. Could it be?

Thanks to Kinza and Melissa for the tip!

wasara coffee cup set of 6.

wasara coffee cup set of 6 by shinichiro ogata.

wasara coffee cup set of 6.

wasara coffee cup set of 6 by shinichiro ogata.

Virtual Shopping: In the Attic

My love of most things vintage, retro, and/or nostalgic is pretty well documented, so whenever my roommate receives a new Betty's Attic catalogue I find myself thumbing through it.

And while it's full of items that would be better suited for my "Why?" feature, they always carry a few treasures -

I know they're all reproductions, but when it comes to pieces I'm going to actual use daily (or so) I feel more comfortable using a reproduction, that way if it gets ripped or broken I don't feel so bad.

artists and designers i met journals.

artists and designers i met journals from moma.

full bleed: new york city skateboard photography.

full bleed: new york city skateboard photography by andre razo, alex corporan, and ivory serra.

artists and designers i met journals.

artists and designers i met journals from moma.

full bleed: new york city skateboard photography.

full bleed: new york city skateboard photography by andre razo, alex corporan, and ivory serra.

Hull and Hobnail Happiness

Forrest Gump had that line about life and chocolates. But I think life's more like a thrift store. You have a wider range of serendipity. A little humor. A little "what the heck is that?" And junk or treasure, it's all in how you look at it.

Anyway, this week's Treasure Hunting took me and my shopping bud, Scoobie, around Pittsburgh's South Hills. I had had my eye on a type of Depression glass from the 40s by Anchor Hocking called "Moonstone" and this was the weekend I managed to snag a few pieces at a good price...
I'd like it noted that this was from the very same antique mall where I showed you the, um, unique example of Big-Eyed Portraiture on Sunday. Proving, I think, the truth of that adapted Forrest Gump adage I was just talking about. :)

And underlining the bit about serendipity, at the Salvation Army Superstore in West Mifflin, I came across my very first thrifted Hull vase...
Scoobie and I both spotted it at the same time and gasped, knowing full-well how expensive Hull is in any of the antique malls.

Now, I'm not going to kid you-- it does have two chips. You can see one of them on the right hand side. But honestly, sitting up on top of my china cabinet, its soft matte-finish pastels look just right in my dining room. I looked it up and the pattern's called Wildflower. I figure no one visiting will be inclined to pluck the vase from its spot and "tsk-tsk" over the chips...

And if they do-- heh-- I probably should invite them over less.

Lastly, I snagged two bright green Depression glass candlesticks at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Castle Shannon. They don't look quite as intensely green in this pic as they are in real life...
They came out to be $5 for the pair.

Now, before I forget-- one of the Thrift Shop Romantic's regular readers, Debbie of Debbie-Dabble, had asked to see a closeup of a table in my spare room, based on a previous post. So Debbie, my friend, here is more of that sewing stand...
It's from the 70s, a Singer cabinet, which I two-toned with some of the same cottage white paint I've used elsewhere in that room. Its top wasn't great, so after I painted it, I put a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic placemat over the top and glass over that to keep it tidy...
Here you can see the Colonial knobs were exchanged for glass knobs, and I'd added some wooden appliques to fancy it up.
Thrift stores often have old sewing tables without the sewing machines in them, and the tables still make great sidetables, with a little bit of work.

Anyway, that's it for this Treasure Box Wednesday. I hope to see you again on Sunday for our next post-- and have yourselves a chocolate-box-worthy remainder of this week!

Hull and Hobnail Happiness

Forrest Gump had that line about life and chocolates. But I think life's more like a thrift store. You have a wider range of serendipity. A little humor. A little "what the heck is that?" And junk or treasure, it's all in how you look at it.

Anyway, this week's Treasure Hunting took me and my shopping bud, Scoobie, around Pittsburgh's South Hills. I had had my eye on a type of Depression glass from the 40s by Anchor Hocking called "Moonstone" and this was the weekend I managed to snag a few pieces at a good price...
I'd like it noted that this was from the very same antique mall where I showed you the, um, unique example of Big-Eyed Portraiture on Sunday. Proving, I think, the truth of that adapted Forrest Gump adage I was just talking about. :)

And underlining the bit about serendipity, at the Salvation Army Superstore in West Mifflin, I came across my very first thrifted Hull vase...
Scoobie and I both spotted it at the same time and gasped, knowing full-well how expensive Hull is in any of the antique malls.

Now, I'm not going to kid you-- it does have two chips. You can see one of them on the right hand side. But honestly, sitting up on top of my china cabinet, its soft matte-finish pastels look just right in my dining room. I looked it up and the pattern's called Wildflower. I figure no one visiting will be inclined to pluck the vase from its spot and "tsk-tsk" over the chips...

And if they do-- heh-- I probably should invite them over less.

Lastly, I snagged two bright green Depression glass candlesticks at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Castle Shannon. They don't look quite as intensely green in this pic as they are in real life...
They came out to be $5 for the pair.

Now, before I forget-- one of the Thrift Shop Romantic's regular readers, Debbie of Debbie-Dabble, had asked to see a closeup of a table in my spare room, based on a previous post. So Debbie, my friend, here is more of that sewing stand...
It's from the 70s, a Singer cabinet, which I two-toned with some of the same cottage white paint I've used elsewhere in that room. Its top wasn't great, so after I painted it, I put a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic placemat over the top and glass over that to keep it tidy...
Here you can see the Colonial knobs were exchanged for glass knobs, and I'd added some wooden appliques to fancy it up.
Thrift stores often have old sewing tables without the sewing machines in them, and the tables still make great sidetables, with a little bit of work.

Anyway, that's it for this Treasure Box Wednesday. I hope to see you again on Sunday for our next post-- and have yourselves a chocolate-box-worthy remainder of this week!