KOOZA - CIRQUE du SOLEIL

Tammie had a birthday whilst we were in Seattle and to celebrate the event I took Tammie, Greg and Sean to see the Cirque du Soleil presentation of their latest event, Kooza.


I have heard about Cirque du Soleil for years but admit that I really know very little about it. I looked on the internet but that really didn’t give me much of an insight into what goes on. I suppose I really expected some sort of high-brow, arty-farty event with performers in silly costumes leaping around the stage doing silly things.


I was wrong!


We decided to take a cab to the event as it was on the other side of Seattle to where we were staying. The Circus was held in a huge park to the east of Seattle. As the cab pulled into the park we spied the blue and yellow, conical shape big top. A stream of people headed for the entrance.


There was an air of excitement as people thronged the outer extremities of the big top waiting to take their seats. A buzzer rang and a rush of people headed deeper into the huge tent to find and take their seats.

Though the area was compact it was amazing how much room there was inside. We had great seats near to the stage with an unimpeded view. Whilst waiting for the show to begin the audience was entertained by a variety of acts that took place in and around the audience. Everyone who sat there was on notice that they could be used as a prop for entertainment and derision. Most people shrunk back into their seats hoping to become unnoticeable to the wandering performers.


The thought struck me that perhaps this wasn’t going to be the performance I expected.


Basically Kooza is some sort of androgynous character who is given a special baton. Actually let’s not concentrate on Kooza as he/she is really only a backdrop to the show that links the acts. The star of Cirque du Soleil is the performing acrobats, daredevils and comedians who keep the audience both entertained and gasping in amazement.


Cirque du Soleil presents two beautiful girls who twist themselves into amazing body-bending shapes, trapeze artists, acrobats, high-wire acts. Well the list goes on and on. All of this is accompanied by a core group of comedians, clowns if you will who keep the audience in stitches of laughter with their antics. This crew also loves to involve the audience and many of those sitting in the audience were left red faced and slightly embarrassed, but none the less laughing.

The costumes were amazing and the set decoration was fantastic. The music was live and the two singers who accompanied the acts were superb.


I often looked across at Gregory and Sean to see if they were enjoying the show and every time I did they had huge grins on their faces. When asked what has been their favourite moment of their two week trip to Canada and the USA they answer without hesitation, Cirque du Soleil. Enough said!

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/kooza/default.aspx

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

As my two sons’ who are visiting from Australia are avid sport fans I decided to take them to an American League Baseball (MLB) game. The closest MLB game to their arrival point in Vancouver was Seattle so a few days after arriving we took the 300 odd kilometer trip down to Seattle.

The major embuggerance on the trip down was the hold-up at the Peace Arch border crossing. There was a long, long line of cars waiting to cross the border and it took over an hour to get to the checkpoint. Not an easy task when you are sitting in an open-topped Jeep on a hot day.

Further complications arose at the checkpoint as I had to get my visa validated which meant parking the car and entering the border protection building. The line was well out the door and you could feel the agitation in the air as just two officers served customers. This was bought about as there was some major incident at our time of crossing as a whole posse of police and Homeland Security guys bundled a fellow in handcuffs into the building.

The lineup was a real united nations of people all trying to get into the USA and by the look and angst on some faces a few didn’t make it. Finally our time came at the front of the line and I dutifully handed over my passport. The guy behind the counter asked where I was going and I told him a MLB game in Seattle. He asked what team would I be supporting. A no-brainer that one. Seattle Mariners I said. Good answer he replied and I was in. Simple as that the gateway to the USA is supporting the correct sports team!


The rest of the trip was easy except for the traffic in downtown Seattle. We found our bed and breakfast which was located in the old and exclusive part of town called Capitol Hill. It was a lovely old house with a view to Mt Rainier, but no air conditioning and a shared bathroom.

The game started at 7pm so we caught a cab. It was just a short trip to Safeco Field which cost $10. It was by far the smartest way to get to the game as we were dropped out the front and we avoided the parking fee of $25.


It is not a cheap experience going to a MLB game. We had second tier seats which cost $55. Then they plied on a number of add on costs such as ground improvement and a few others that I had no idea what they were so the final cost with tax came out at over $70.
The field was huge with a retractable roof. When we entered there were throngs of people everywhere and the multitude of concession stands were doing a roaring trade. Whereas in Australia the food-fare at sports events is reasonably basic, here at Safeco it was a smorgasbord of many food types and variety. Alcohol stands were everywhere as was stands selling all types of souvenirs and game paraphernalia. Several universities had even set up information stands inside the stadium. Just what a person needs go to a ball game to sign up for university.

We found our seats okay and sat there for a while dumbstruck at the size of the stadium and all that was going on, both on the field and off. I don’t think any of us quite knew where to look and what to take in.


The Seattle Mariners were playing the iconic New York Yankees who are only behind Manchester United in sporting recognition around the world. They exuded confidence and arrogance as they practiced on the field.
A large proportion of fans had on their team colours and it was amazing to see almost as many NY Yankee fans as Mariner fans. They were vocal especially a group of young girls who sat behind us yelling out a Yankee’s chant that ended with a high pitched Gooooooo Yankeeeeeee’s! It was cute the first three or four times but by the third innings you wanted to strangle them especially if you were a Mariners supporter.

 I must admit the game itself didn’t hold a lot of interest. There was just one home run and the rest was fairly predicable. Compared too many sports there doesn’t appear to be a lot of physicality in the game as the basemen and outfielders just stand around, waiting a lot of the time the only exercise some of them get is chewing their wads of chewing tobacco.

The attraction though was the occasion of a major American sporting event. There was just so much to take in to see and to hear. The biggest cheers and interest at times appeared to be the speedboat races and games that appeared on the big screen. It was just like a huge Playsation game and everyone appeared to get involved in the race or game and hooted and hollered for their choice. Weird!
Satisfied we left the game before the end to miss the mad-leaving rush. The Mariners were done easily beaten by the Yankees. On the way out we visited the Mariner’s store which is contained within the stadium. There is just one word for it….huge! The store was like a mini department store with every conceivable type of team merchandise. Amazing!

We did beat the rush and picked up a cab without any problems at all. The sun had just set and it was a warm, balmy evening, perfect for watching baseball.


Was it worth it? Damn right it was!