Russ Makes Progress on the Backsplash

The kitchen, which was Russ's project for the winter of 2010 (ahem) is still coming along.  He's working on the backsplash around the counter now.  It's not done yet, but you can see in these pictures that it's going to be spectacular when he gets it done.

Yes, those are individual tiles of various sizes that he has hand-cut to fit in the pattern that he has dreamed up.  Notice how some of the tiny squares are even cut to fit.  Too tedious for me, but he's done great!

More Wands

A couple of weeks ago, Alma made some wontons and rainbow jello for me to take to a work picnic.  When I offered to pay her for her time, she instead asked me to make a dozen wands for her to give out as Christmas presents.

So I rolled up a bunch and started decorating and painting them.  Today I finished.  They look pretty nice!

Now I finish the special ones I'm making for the family!

NYC for Zarkana

Today the Three of We--plus Granison--drove to New York City to see Cirque du Soliel's Zarkana.  We got up at 430am and hit the road at 530.  It was a good drive, nice and quick.  We had breakfast about halfway there, road the ferry over to Manhattan, subway to Times Square.  We walked around a bit then went to the show at Radio City Music Hall.

Fantastic.  Of course, it was Cirque, so the music, costumes, and acrobatics were eye-popping. But the stage and set was unbelievable.  The stage had the "back wall" cyclorama, of course, plus the prosceneium, and an inner prosceneium...all of which were animated via computer imagery and/or projection.  As a result, the images on the set was able to change depending on the act.  But they didn't just change...that would be common.  Instead, they animated.  Snakes writhed and slithered up to form an arch and then all the snakes watched the act.  Flower petals rained down from the heavens.    Panels seemed to open up and clockwork gears rotated and spun.  It was--as usual for Cirque--crazy.

The show, apparently, is about the great wizard Zark who has lost his powers and the love of his live in an abandoned theatre.  The theatre is populted by a wild collection of ghosts, theatrical spirits, and a few powerful sirens who seek to distract him from his quest to recover his past.  (Not that you'd get much of that from watching the show.)

Here's some images from the show. Of course, no cameras were allowed inside--and rightly so--so these are images I lifted from other web sites. The copyrights, etc., belong to those sites and Cirque. I just included them here to share what I remember...

A Tightrope Act with an Undulating Medusa-like Singer in the Background

Trapeze Artists in a Web-Filled Stage, while the Spider Lady Hangs
and Sings in the Background

The Pickled Lady Sings from a Clear Drum while Animated Eyes Track

Her Journey Across the Stage

This Act Kept Me on the Edge of My Seat

Using a Light Table and Sand (?) this Artist Sketches Out
Hauntingly Beautiful Scenes from the Show.  As She Works,

Her Results are Broadcast to the Screen Above Her.  Easily
One of the Most Enchanting Acts of the Show.

After the show we walked down to a highly recommended pizzaria...only to discover it was closed.  We trotted on to a Harley Davidson store so Garry could buy his dad a gift.  Then we went to a "regular" New York pizza joint for a bite to eat.  After that we walked back to Times Square, got on th subway...then the ferry...then in the car and zipped back home.

It was a good day!

Wands!

As you know, we went to the "Harry Potter Park" a while back, had fun, and bought a near truck-load of wands.  Well, our dear friends the Pritchetts are going in September.  They have two young girls who are Potter fans, and have decided to take..get ready..a train to Orlando.  How nifty is that?  So their three fabulous gay uncles are preparing all sorts of surprises for them.  They'll be getting Hogwarts postcards with official Hogsmeade postmarks announcing how excited the Wizardling World is that the girls will be arriving.  Then the day they leave, outside their door will mysteriously appear gift boxes for the girls.  There will be a few white "owl" feathers scattered around the boxes...  Each will have a box of "Every Flavor Beans"  and a "Chocolate Frog"  (real ones from the park that we bought while there).  There are card games, golden snitches, and other trinkets to make their trip more fun.

Plus...

...wands!  I found this most excellent website on how to make wands using paper, glue, and paint.  (http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an-awesome-Harry-Potter-wand-from-a-sheet-of-/)   So I made eight wands and the girls (or the parents) will choose which girl gets which wand.

It's my first attempt ever, and during the decorating phase I got a little extravagant...  Still I think they came out very nice!

They've been great fun to build and I've already been convinced to whip up another dozen as Christmas gifts for Alma's gang!