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Monday, March 12, 2007

Adelaide Cup Holiday Weekend

Today is a quiet relaxing day, a public holiday for the Adelaide Cup, which although it has been downgraded and almost no one goes, is still a public holiday in South Australia.

I took the kids to the Animal Expo, where they got to meet Dr Harry, Australian TV Vet Extraordinaire, who lead an interesting session for kids on how not to be bitten by dogs. Then on to the many stands with different animals. We learned how to train rabbits, the challenges of looking after sick or abandoned joeys in your home and new developments in poultry
husbandry. Then on to the rides and the portable climbing wall. Both the kids got to the top. I was very impressed. Then on to the pony rides and home.

Yesterday we had a day at WOMAD, which stands for the World of Music, Arts & Dance. Over three days, WOMADelaide, held in Botanic Park in Adelaide every year, runs six outdoor stages featuring performances and intimate workshops by around 35 groups from over 20 countries. There is a great mixture of the well known and the not so well known. It also presents a KidZone, visual arts and street theatre programs, and an amazing Global Village of 100 arts, crafts, international cuisine and educational display stalls and three bars.

Yesterdays highlights were The Waifs, with Paul Kelly, who sang an adaptation of Little Things, Salif Keita and the Kronos Quartet, who were great other than choosing to start their routine with a very odd rendition of the Yanqui National Anthem. I have seen the Kronos Quartet a couple of times before at the Singapore Festival. They really have a fantastically resonant and interesting sound, constantly evolving reflecting many different musical influences. What I like is just hanging out and listening to the music and looking at the people.

These kinds of events bring out all the hippies and out there people, along with everyone else from zero to eighty. The kids area had lots of creative events, including the dinosaur petting zoo, which got out of hand, with fantastic large scale dinosaur puppets ala Walking with Dinosaurs. The only stressful moment was when Ryan ran ahead and disappeared into a sea of people for this event. I looked around and around and it was only when I thought about it that I found him, the highest kid in the tree overlooking the stage. Fantastic fun event.

4 comments:

Jeremy Jacobs said...

and what is the trick to not be bitten by a dog?

Colin Campbell said...

Rather like the one about not being eaten by a shark, which is don't swim in the sea or a tank at the aquarium or try to catch sharks while drunk on vodka. Seriously there was a 3 metre shark at the jetty where my kids go swimming last week. The key is to not rush at a dog manically screaming and threatening it, don't pet it when it hasn't been fed for two days and it is having dinner and don't wrap bacon around your wrist when you go to say hello.

Seriously it is 1 Ask the Owner 1a If there is no owner, don't approach the dog 2 Put your hand into a fist and 3 touch it under the mouth. If all these things go well you can proceed.

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