Saturday, August 06, 2005
Got to the venue at the west end of the CNE grounds just before 7pm, picked up our tickets, and then got our cardboard black-and-white crowns before joining the throngs inside.
Made our way to the scrivenor who jotted down Annie's name and the fact that it was her 4th birthday. Her knighting ceremony with the "king" happened just before seating time, Erika taking a slightly overwhelmed Annie to the podium. Her turn was immediately preceded by an amused white-haired old lady celebrating her 82nd birthday with her family, and followed by a gaggle of young south-Asian women sporting laies and clearly very happy to be there.
We then made our way to the seats, and we lucked out getting a set of seats in the front row in the middle of the arena. I had paid slightly more for these seats, and it was well worth it. There was a minor mix-up on the number of seat, and after moving everyone else down on the table I ended up sitting semi-awkwardly at the very of the table, though as a result I had plenty of leg room. I was offered (and I accepted) a free beer for my troubles. In addition to the great seats and the knighting ceremony for Annie, we also got complementary programs, a DVD and small banners to wave when our knight hit the stage.
Soon the play was set in motion, and we all dutifully cheered when the black and white knight hit the field. While I can't be certain, am pretty sure the knights were played by different people, or at least they rotated in their roles. The show was otherwise much the same as the last time I had seen it while on an outing with the other members of the engineering division I am with at the company. The green team was ritually castigated -- I susppect that people request to be in that part of the audience, and I think at least one group of guys having a bachelor's party were there. The same colour of knight was also the obvious beau of the princess. And the fight scenes were all choreographed the same way, with the same knights sham-falling off their horse, a knight falling down after a blow misses him by a mile, and the bad guy is ultimately revealed and led away in chains at the conclusion.
Was all the more impressed thsi time by the level of horsemanship, and by the swooping dives of the falcon as it swooped around the area, chasing after the lure the falconer played out to her.
The food was the usual fare: veggie soup with pasta, half chicken, and a beef rib along with other munchies. Our "serving wench" played up the servings to the girls, making them "dragon tail soup", "baby dragon" and "dragon's toe" respectively.
Vanessa was mesmerized by the whole thing, and clearly had a great time watching the spectacle unfold. Annie watched but wasn't as engaged by the whole thing, though she did comment on the "pretty horses" and asked if the "wounded" knights being led away had really been killed (I assured her it was all play acting, though I think she was only fully reasured when all of the knights returned at the conclusion for their bows). As the birthday girl, Annie had her name and birthday read out by the herald to much applause, and she also received the ribbon the princess had given to the black and white knight, which I retrieved for her at the edge of the lance, since she couldn't reach.
The whole thing is kind of cheesy, but a genuinely good time was had by all.
Erika had been working into the wee hours of the previous night on a shoot, and knowing that beforehand, I decided to take the girls for a return visit to the ROM, likely to see the Feathered Dinos exhibit one last time before it heads to its next venue in September. Knowing that my Aunt Audrey hadn't seen the exhibit, I decided to invite her along as well so that she could see it.
We were late heading out so I grabbed a cab to get us there by the 10am agreed-upon meeting time, where we met Audrey by the south entrance. We went in and I managed to get her a free pass based on my family membership (she is family after all).
We proceeded immediately to the feathered dino exhibition, and this time I pointedly took some pics of the model beasts at the entrance to the exhibit, if only because not only are photos not permitted in the rest of the exhibit, but for the first time noticed that even sketching is prohibited, which struck me as particularly draconian.
Thanks in large part to Audrey's interest, this was the most time I had been able to spend at the exhibit, as I was able to slow the kids down a bit and not have to rush as much as usual. Annie was pretty squirmy, but the promise of impending lunch afterwards helped from having her bounce completely off the walls. This exhibit I noticed for the first time exactly which of the dino displays will be exhibited in the new gallery opening up in the ROM scheduled for the end of this year. It was more than I had thought which should make for an interesting display when the new gallery opens up. Audrey had some good questions on the evolutionary issues surrounding the exhibit -- which is arguably more contentious that the exhibit would have people believe, since the divisions between which dinos were feathered and which were not, and why, is still being argued about in the academic community. Not for the first time I wished that there was an audio guide or a guide that could walk people through the exhibit properly -- the dry video commentary is adequate, but pointing out the specific value of particular pieces would have been more instructive, and rounded out the exhibition more.
After that came lunchtime in the Druxy's downstairs, after a brief diversion to the gift shop which has now moved downstairs. Had a nice long chat with Audrey while the kids were munching away and playing with each other. My favourite bit was asking whether Audrey was planning to celebrate her 80th birthday in any way; her response: "Heavens no. Am doing my best to forget about it". ;-)
After lunch, I figured the best thing to do would be to take the elevator all the way to the 3rd floor so that there wouldn't be any stairs to climbs for anybody. Met up with a tour group, whom we followed into the Egyptian hall, which was good because Vanessa wanted to see the mummy there.
She went up and had a close look and got freaked out when somebody took a flash photo and the reflection in the desiccated sockets made Vanessa think it had moved. I assured her that the mummy hasn't moved a jot since I was a little boy (and was similarly freaked out by the body -- I didn't mention that part though. ;-)
We parted from Audrey at the end of gallery by Hatshepsut's wall depicting the expedition to Punt, allowing her to have a good look at the ROM, which she apparently hadn't been in for years.
I took my restless girls to the ever-popular Bat Cave and the Bird Gallery. Took a seat and managed to take the following set of panoramic pics. While the lines of sight are far from perfect, I like the implicit time sequence as my daughters first look at something on the right, and then reappear to the middle-left and then again just slightly to the left as they look at something else in the various pull drawers dotted around the gallery area.
Thence to the Discovery area, where Vanessa spelled Annie's name in hieroglyphics (there being no equivalent to a "V"-sound in the Egyptian hieroglyphic chart the helper had) and Annie did some crayon rubbings.
Then home by cab, and then a quick nap for everyone in order to rest up for the trip to Medieval Times later that evening.
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