Random thoughts and observations
Young Michael and I went to the World Tennis Challenge in Adelaide tonight. The challenge is a three-day exhibition tournament featuring ad-hoc teams from Europe, the Americas, Australasia and Rest of the World.
The players are a mix of current stars and yesterday’s heroes. Tonight we saw Frenchman Michael Llodra, ranked 45 in the world, play Stan Wawrinka from Poland, ranked 23.
We took the twins to see their first Adelaide Christmas Pageant today. They had previously been to the Mount Gambier Christmas Parade, but as you would expect, the Adelaide event is somewhat bigger. The route is 3.3km long. For about 10 minutes, the pageant took over the whole of King William Street from South Terrace to Victoria Square and Flinders Street to North Terrace. Apparently it took 15 trucks to transport costumes, shapes, heads, bikes and props to Pulteney Grammar, the starting point, the day before the pageant.
We took the twins to Dinosaurs Alive in Adelaide this week. It’s just a 3.3km drive from our place to the Showgrounds, adding another interesting venue within easy reach. Dinosaurs Alive is described as a $3.5 million educative and fun-filled exhibition featuring robotic dinosaurs. “It takes visitors along the 165-million-year journey of the Age of Dinosaurs,” according to the blurb. On a visit during the school holidays I would rather describe it as an expensive way to pass an hour, but worthwhile in the scheme of things. It cost us $55 for a family pass.
One of my Facebook friends posted this comment: “Change your Facebook profile picture to a cartoon from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday, there should be no human faces on facebook, but a stash of memories. This is for eliminating violence against children. Support the walk against child abuse.” A worthy cause and it was interesting to reflect on childhood cartoons. I used to watch the Roadrunner, of course, Daffy Duck, Tom and Jerry, etc. However, my favorites at different times were probably Gigantor, Kimba and Wacky Races.
My favorite show when I was a child was Adventure Island. It screened from 1967-72 and was repeated on ABC television from 1973-76. I’m surprised it didn’t have a longer life given its creativity and entertainment value. In many respects it was probably ahead of its time.
