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Some pictures to family August 2009

Monday 26th August 2002

Had rented the movie "South Pacific". What a lovely musical this was. No wonder it ran for such a long time. Each song has perfectly worked words and music. The words and music are perfectly suited to the scene. The photography was truly a work of art and the scenery magnificent. You will probably disagree with me - It's "old fashioned".

Sunday 18th August 2002

Yesterday I went with a party to see Mama Mia. First we went to the Old Mill (on Old Mill Road, Toronto) for lunch. This is such a lovely restaurant, I really recommend it for a pleasant supper or lunch and quiet dance floor. There are beautiful (though small) gardens and there appears to be ample free parking.

Sorry to say, I did not like the Mama Mia show very much. It is ABBA music and I probably would not have seen it, but it had been well recommended to me by numerous people. I may have liked it better if I could have heard the words of the songs. The songs were sung and broadcast so loudly that I could not understand a word. You might like it - if you know the music of ABBA.

Anyway, this is what I thought: A very silly story about a woman who, when a teen, had done it with three different men. (This is not my use of bad grammar. I have purposely not mentioned the popular euphemism "relationship" as this implies something lasting .. rather than the matings of dogs). Subsequently she had established a small hotel on a remote Greek island. She lived there with her resulting daughter, who, of course, did not know her father. They were all successful, hard-working, and the final outcome was happy. (I ask you, is it even likely that a male who has, in passing, mated with a female during a drunken night out, would return thirty years later and marry her?)

Throughout history, people have taught their young by the telling of stories. This story was so stupid as to be annoying.

I was even more impressed by the annoying story, when I came out of the theatre and was immediately faced by the reality:

In the gutter, outside the theatres, sat a teenage girl in a ragged outfit, with the sign: "Homeless and Pregnant - please help me!"

In front of the theatre were many teenage boys - in the dreadful heat of that day - Rickshaw Operators! They were begging to drag visitors around Toronto in Rickshaws. I did not ask how much they were charging. I suppose it could be a good occupation to keep them out of trouble. Just the same ....

Could this be Toronto! I thought only to see such poverty and degradation of children in so-called third-world countries.

To me, this show is a celebration of immorality, set to the mind-bending beat of songs which repeat over and over at ear-splitting volume refrains of impoverished ideas. This was not just my opinion, but most of the audience seemed to be complaining about the terribly loud amplification. I guess they make up for lack of substance by excessive noise). The unfortunate children in front of the theatre are the result of such stupid ill-conceived (excuse the pun) ideas. Hey .. what’s that you say .. It’s just a show! Yeah, right!! The actors were all hard-working, beautiful, enthusiastic. Sorry to criticize the show.

Monday 12th August 2002

People keep asking me: what is Spam? Spam is a fatty, salty luncheon meat. It was used during WWII. Spam is still available. Here's a picture:

The word Spam was used during a Montie Python skit: A customer went into a restaurant and was offered a full menu. When he came to order, there was nothing available but Spam (which was often the case during WWII - and lucky if that was still on the menu). It's not an unpleasant luncheon meat - but really upsets the digestion if one has more than two slices. The trouble which ensued (in the skit) started when the waiter suggested that the customer could have Spam and Spam, or alternatively, Spam, Spam and Spam, otherwise, various flavourings or ways of cooking the Spam. .. until the customer became so incensed that he attacked the waiter. So, that's why we get annoyed when we get the same old, same old on our emails. PLEASE don't send me any more lousy ads for ANYTHING. I'm not interested! If I want anything I will look it up for myself.

Sunday 11th August 2002

My movie for the afternoon was "Spy Kids 2". One way to get in out of the heat. I like to get into the imaginations of other people. The special effects are endless. The cinema was quite busy and the children in the audience seemed entranced. The story owed somewhat to the old story of the voyage of the Argonauts - the legend of those who sailed with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece. This included their encounters with the multi-headed hydra and the skeletal creatures who came up out of the ground. The lessons they mentioned were that one needs to use simple tools and "think outside the box" when gadgets fail. Also, that science could produce some horrible accidents. We already have examples of that - with the killer-bees, cane toads etc.

I wish the movie makers would do a remake of the "Day of the Triffids". In the last rehash of that story, the triffids were accidentally produced by a genetic modification of an oil producing plant .. in order to provide more oil. Then the plants began to move and had inherited nervous systems. From that point they had to be chained in the fields, which, of course, did not work out. I haven't even seen a video of the old movie, but I think it would go over quite well with new animations. It was really horrific in the old version.

Extremely hot - about 34ºC. Still no rain. Lawns as dry as cornflakes. My friends are hard-hit by the water restrictions and by the rationing by price. They plant beautiful vegetable gardens for their families. Then when there is no rain and they cannot water the plants, their work is unrewarded. They have large families and have to pay a lot more for showering and laundry. Yet, still the council is granting more development.

Thursday 1st August 2002

Still continues extremely hot. Occasional thunderstorms. In Alberta it has been unseasonably cold with a little snow in places.

A few days ago I took some pictures of the flowers in my garden. This is an example of how much better the sunflower looks with backlighting. It is not often one can get the lighting to co-operate, but I always think backlighting looks good, especially for blond children, leaves and flowers.

sunflower with backlighting.

Link to the Movies Pages at "movies.yahoo.com"

Visit a site for many photographs of North American Birds and animals.

Rhona Raskin Home Page at http://www.rhona.com.