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Archive for the ‘C.’ Category

Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, April 18, 2015)

Posted in Acrobats, Animals, Branchburg, NJ, C., Cats, Dogs, Funny (ha ha), Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T. on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 18, 2015] Popovich Comedy Pet Theatre

popvichThis show was playing at McCarter Theater and at RVCC. It was at least $10/ticket cheaper at RVCC, so good for us!  The RVCC show was a general admission seating situation, so we got there much earlier than we normally do for shows.  Of course, so did everyone else and we wound up sitting pretty far back (I was glad that people were actually coming to an RVCC show!).

But that was okay, because we could still see all of the action and all of the pets perfectly.

Some fascinating things to note about Popovich before I even get to the show.  Despite the name, the show is not only pets.  In fact there are a lot of human clowns and acrobats and performers on stage as well.  Evidently Popovich is quite well-known and has appeared on many TV shows.  And the whole show is told as a vague kind of story.

pop tvWhen we arrived, one of the troupe was standing in the aisle with a cat on his shoulder.  T. got to pet the cat, which was sweet.  Then a man in a cool green outfit (a big flared jumpsuit) with some white face on came down the aisle eating popcorn.  He played some jokes on people in the audience and then climbed on stage.  He was a kind of warm up, doing cheesy jokes (the fingers transferring from one hand to the other joke), and then doing a bit with a balloon that he could not move.  He was a really convincing mime and that bit was great, especially when the other guy came out and tried to pull the balloon away and couldn’t.  It was all simple but when it’s done well, it’s really magical. (more…)

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Spencers: Theatre of Illusion (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, March 28, 2015)

Posted in Branchburg, NJ, C., Illusion, Muse, RVCC Arts, Spencers: Theatre of Illusion, T., The Lost Boys on March 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 28, 2015] Spencers: Theatre of Illusion

Back in October of 2012 we saw Spencers: Theatre of Illusion.  I saw that they were coming around again, and even though we had seen the show, I remember enjoying it and thought it would be fun to see them again since the kids were a little older now.

I also assumed that the show would be different.  I mean, it had been nearly 2 and a half years.  Sadly, many of the magic acts were exactly the same.  But on the positive side, they were still pretty awesome, and there was a bunch of new material as well.

In my previous write up I said that the pacing was too slow.  I’m sure it wasn’t faster but it didn’t feel slow this time.  That may have been the audience–the room was full of super excited kids and there was plenty of laughter and applause–it worked very well with his leisurely storytelling style (I may have also been anxious last time since our kids were younger and I wanted them to be excited all the way though).

He started off , like last time, by doing a seemingly easy but very cool illusion of tearing today’s newspaper in half. He made some jokes about the paper and then proceeded to rip it up and then reunite the whole page.   It’s pretty cool. (more…)

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Cirque Alfonse: Timber! (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, March 6, 2015)

Posted in Acrobats, Branchburg, NJ, C., Cirque Alfonse, Peking Acrobats, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T. on March 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cirque_alfonse_timber_2[ATTENDED: March 6, 2015] Timber!

Anyone who reads this blog knows that we love our cirques.   From China, from Montreal, from wherever.  So if  you tell me that you’ve invited circus performers who are doing lumberjack skills, you know I’m there.

One thing I loved about this show was just how different it was from most of the shows we’ve seen.  Unlike the Chinese acrobats who are dainty or sleek and strong, or some of the other Montreal cirques which are polished, these acrobats, the troupe of Cirque Alfonse, were big burly bearded men in flannel shirts and long johns and a couple of women (one very strong and the other a lithe dancer). They spoke and sang only in French and created a set that was very much reminiscent of a Québécois logging camp.

timber4One of the best things about the show was the live music.  Most of the acrobats also played instruments–guitars, banjos, a saw, and various percussion.  There was something about the performers being up there that made the show more exciting–especially later in the show when the guy busted out an electric guitar which seemed to update the danger level somewhat.  I do admit that since I don’t know French at all, I have no idea what the songs (some had words) were about.

There was much humor (an outhouse as part of the set) and of course, plenty of visual humor–usually surrounding how they set up their tricks. (more…)

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Universal Studios–Islands of Adventure (2014)

Posted in C., Rides, S., T., Universal Studios, Vacation, Walt Disney World on November 7, 2014| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 7, 2014] Universal Studios Island of Adventure

ioaOur final day of vacation, and…nobody was sick at all!  Hooray!

It was another day at Universal.  I didn’t know if it could compare to the first day–how could it, really?  And while we didn’t do quite as many thrilling things, we fully explored the world of Harry Potter’s Hogsmeade and even left that island to explore others.  It was quite easy to forget was that there were so many other islands outside of the Harry Potter World.

We knew we wanted to ride the Harry Potter Express again–what’s the point of getting the MultiPark Pass if you don’t?  But we also knew that we wanted to start in Universal Studios Florida again because we wanted to go on the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem (the one ride that had a perpetually long line–oftentimes up to an hour) before heading over to Hogsmeade.

Remember, the entrance is shaped kind of like a Y.  You come in via City Walk and then you go left for Universal’s Island of adventure or you go right for Universal Studios Florida (the older f the two parks).  Unlike Disney, both parks are right next to each other.  But like Disney, if you pick to go in one, you can’t go in the other.  Unless you buy the Two Park Pass.  Then you can leave one and enter the other through the front, or you can go via the Hogwarts Express.

(more…)

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Universal Studios Florida (2014)

Posted in Butterbeer, C., Despicable Me, Harry Potter, Revenge of the Mummy, Rides, S., Shrek, T., The Simpsons, Universal Studios, Vacation on November 6, 2014| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 6, 2014] Universal Studios

usfS. and I had been to Universal Studios about a decade ago during a library conference.  It was super fun–we were there after the park closed and got to ride all kinds of things.  Despite that, we didn’t remember much about the park, and so much had been added since then, that we were very excited (for The Simpsons Ride and especially the whole Harry Potter experience).  As we approached S. said that it felt so much more commercial than Disney, and then we realized that Disney is the most commercial place in the world, so it wasn’t that exactly.  And then we decided that Universal is like Disney’s tacky cousin.

The set up of entering the park is quite unusual, especially compared to Disney.  You park in a parking garage (which is certainly more convenient than the Disney lots) and enter the CityWalk portion. This is an aggressively neoned area with every conceivable chain restaurant you have ever imagined–mostly larger ones (the kind that we assume people who don’t live near a city a very excited to eat at) which I won’t name, but they are usually associated with a TV show, movie or Hollywood in general.

Here’s what’s so unusual about Universal Studios.  The entrance is shaped kind of like a Y.  You come in via CityWalk and then you go left for Universal’s Island of Adventure or you go right for Universal Studios Florida (the older of the two parks).  Unlike Disney, both parks are right next to each other.  But like Disney, if you pick to go in one, you can’t go in the other.  Unless you buy the Multi Park Pass.  Then you can leave one and enter the other through the front, or you can go via the Hogwarts Express (recommended).

Universal also has a FastPass type deal, but unlike with Disney, you have to pay for the FastPass experience.  And the prices are something like $70-$90 per person on top of park admission.  So the heck with that.  The good news was that when we were there there were very few lines for anything, so it didn’t matter too much.

We entered the park and realized right away that the big attraction at Universal is Despicable Me’s minions–they are the Mickey Mouse of Universal.  But Universal is also super proud of The Simpsons, and as we entered the park, there were Homer and Lisa, and we jumped on line and got our pictures taken with them.  What a weird thing!

(more…)

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Walt Disney World–Hollywood Studios (2014)

Posted in C., Rides, S., T., Universal Studios, Vacation, Walt Disney World on November 5, 2014| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 5, 2014] Hollywood Studios

hollyFor our final day in Disney, we decided to do the most “teen friendly” place, as I like to think of it.  There’s some big time intense rides here–Tower of Terror and Rock and Roller Coaster.  We figured that after the big rides of the last few days, our kids might like to do one of these even bigger rides.  And then C. threw up during the night.

Yup, two stomach bugs marring our Disney trip.  C. was less intense than T.’s but he was still wiped out.  And it really put the kibosh on us doing anything crazy fun.  And yet, there’s no resting if you are sick.

So, we decided to do some of the more mellow events today.  We had some FastPasses, and they were in the middle of the day, so we had some time to explore. (more…)

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Walt Disney World–Magic Kingdom (2014)

Posted in C., Rides, S., T., Vacation, Walt Disney World on November 4, 2014| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 4, 2014] Magic Kingdom

magicFor day three we planned our biggest, longest day–Magic Kingdom.  We have since decided that you could easily spend two days there. Especially since poor T. still didn’t feel great.  C. , on the other hand, was raring to go.

Even if you’re not totally swept up by the Disney Magic, it’s hard not to be excited when your kids turn the corner and see The Castle for the first time.  Even T. who wasn’t feeling great was pretty excited.  And, as far as Disney Magic goes, it was great that they have people in costume–no one “famous,” just random costumed people–walking around to make chit chat.  And we met one such lady who was very funny and was quite charming with T. and it really set the day up nicely.

Our FastPasses were for the mid-afternoon, which meant we couldn’t leave at lunch time like we’d have liked to have done.  So, rather, we made a path for some fun things that we didn’t get to do last time we were there.  Like the Swiss Family Treehouse (more…)

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Walt Disney World–Epcot (2014)

Posted in C., Phineas and Ferb, Rides, S., T., Vacation, Walt Disney World on November 3, 2014| 1 Comment »

epcot[ATTENDED: November 3, 2014] Epcot

For day two we planned to go to Epcot.  We figured there is a lot of walking (the World Showcase is apparently a one mile loop in and of itself).  And we figured we would go in the morning and do a few things, return to the hotel in the afternoon and then go back to the park at night.

And then T. threw up.  She had a stomach virus that started at 1AM.  We felt terrible.  But at he same time, we also knew that we had paid a lot of money for this trip.  So, we pressed on to Epcot anyway.  Clark was especially looking forward to seeing the big ball (not even sure if he knew what it was), so we made poor T. schlep out to Epcot.  And she repaid us by getting sick in the park twice.

We didn’t have a lot planned for Epcot.  We knew we wanted to do Soarin’ (which we had never done because the lines are always so long).  We had just read about the people dying and getting sick on Mission: Space, so we quickly nixed that.  We had a FastPass for the Nemo show, but opted against it.  So, it proved to be a pretty quiet day after all. (more…)

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Walt Disney World–Animal Kingdom (2014)

Posted in Animals, C., Rides, S., T., Vacation, Walt Disney World on November 2, 2014| 1 Comment »

animalking[ATTENDED: November 2, 2014] Animal Kingdom

This past week we went on a Florida vacation.  We have never gone during the NJEA Teacher’s Convention (when the kids have literally one half day of school during the week).  And while I missed out on a few things locally that I would have liked to have done, the trip was super fun.

We did four days in Walt Disney World and two days at Universal Studios.

We had to decide what order to do the parks in.  And we decided that Animal Kingdom would be a good place to start–not too intense and lots to see.

With that in mind, we also knew that we wanted to go on Dinosaur first because there are always super long lines at that ride.  As it turned out, we all got up really early (it was the weekend of the time change) and we got to the park as it opened.  We got over to Dinosaur and there was only a 5 minute wait.  And then we got to ride it again because the line was short again. (more…)

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Andrew Norriss–The Unluckiest Boy in the World (2006) [audiobook 2006–Glen McReady]

Posted in Adventure, Andrew Norriss, Audiobooks, C., Children's Books, Fears, Funny (ha ha), Michigan, T., Travel on August 29, 2014| 1 Comment »

[LISTENED TO: August 2014] The Unluckiest Boy in the World

unlkcyMy kids enjoy just about any audio book, but I try to find ones that seem funny (and age appropriate for both of them).  For reasons I’m unclear about, it seems like most of the audio books that are age appropriate are British or Australian–either they release more audio books, or that’s just what my library orders.  So we wind up listening to a lot of British readers (I think my kids can tell a British accent now).

I didn’t know anything about this book (or its author) but the title sounded great and the age was appropriate.  We listened to it on our trip to Michigan, and it was a perfect length to fit near the end of our arrival.  Boy did we like this book.  There are so many funny unexpected moments.  And the story has a great sense of companionship and closeness among outcasts.  And of course, really bad things happen in inappropriate places, which is quite funny.

I’m really glad I got this book, and I’d be interested to see what else Norriss has written.

So just who is the unluckiest boy in the world?  Nicholas Frith is an average boy eleven year old English boy–not really lucky but not really unlucky either.  Indeed, nothing interesting ever happens to him.  Although he does have an interesting parental setup (which is complicated and best left for the story to reveal, but suffice it to say that his dad is in the United States, but not because he was trying to get away from Nicholas or his mum.

As the book opens, Nicholas and his mum are on a vacation in Spain.  They don’t speak Spanish and while the taxi driver/tour guide is nice, neither he nor his mom is really sure what’s going on.  At some point he leaves the taxi to go pee.  As it turns out though, he winds up peeing on the ancient grave of a very bad man, Toribio de Cobrales.  Of course, there is a curse on this grave (it really should have been better protected, no?)–anyone who defiles it in any way will have nothing but bad luck thrown at him for the rest of his life.  Nicholas is really sorry, he didn’t realize any of that, but it doesn’t matter.  As soon as he defiles the grave the curse comes at them, with thunderclaps and earthquakes and all manner of trouble falling on them in the next few minutes. (more…)

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