Busy Weekend with whale

I already riffed on the video for In the Belly of the Whale, so I'll forebear from using it a second time.  However, we did get to the ROM on Sat. to see the blue whale exhibit.  The skeleton is indeed quite impressive, and they also had some booths showing you how many people (of your weight) would it take to make up a blue whale or how much blood a whale has in comparison to a human.  Perhaps the whale brain was the most impressive, though if the whales have the intelligence of humans (clearly debatable), I think they would have found a way to communicate with us better.  Probably the centerpiece of the exhibit is the blue whale heart, as the ROM is the only museum in the world (apparently) with an intact, preserved whale heart.

We wandered around the museum and had lunch, though we were in a bit of a rush, since we needed to get back and stop by the library.  Also, my daughter really wanted to check out an open house on the street.  So this time around, we actually skipped the dinosaurs (though in the exhibit there were some ancestors of the whales that looked a lot like water-based dinosaurs).

Ambelocetus

We also skipped over the gem room.  I wasn't entirely sure it was open, since they are preparing to reopen the Queen's Park entrance.  I told the kids that the next time we visited (probably on the next AGO-ROM membership swap), that entrance should be open.  Best of all, we skipped the gift shop, since I didn't really want to be telling them no to everything...

I had actually intended to go off to work and pick up something, but it wasn't ready, so we went back home, with a stop at the library first.  The open house showed that they had done a lot of work on the place and it looked nice, but the footprint was still small.  We have quite a bit more space than that house offers, though I did wish we had the deeper basement.

After the kids were settled, I worked a bit in the backyard, trimming back the plants so that it was possible to get to the back deck.  It actually looked pretty nice for once.

Then I still had to go back to work (though I took the opportunity to bike it).  I made it back by 6:30, and by 7, I went over to Withrow Park with my son to catch Othello.  It would have been better had we made it a bit earlier, since the best spaces were already gone -- and they had run out of chairs to rent.  We were nowhere near as cramped and uncomfortable as at High Park, but still, sometimes we had raise ourselves off of the blanket to see anything.  I do wish they had thought a bit more about the sight lines, since quite a bit of the time the actors were on the floor, making it all but impossible to see.  It was a good performance, though I would have preferred to see it indoors in a setting with proper seats.  I haven't really changed my mind that things go far too well for Iago, and in particular Emilia could intervene much sooner in the matter of the handkerchief.  I find the play really falls apart in that moment, since she has no problem ratting out her husband later on.  My son was fairly blown away by it, so I'm glad I exposed him to it.  I'm sure in the next few years I should be able to take him to Macbeth and Hamlet.  I'll probably hold off a bit longer with Lear.

Today was also a fairly cramped day.  I spent the morning cleaning the study (at least getting the clutter off of the floor).  Then I took my daughter to the Ontario Science Centre and we explored for about two hours.  I've gotten most of the items crossed off the list for the summer, though I would still like to take them canoeing on the Humber and ideally take them to Ottawa so that they can see the Parliament Buildings.  Now it seems like the main Parliament Building (Centre Block) will be open for tours at least through the end of the year (before it shuts down for a long rehabilitation period), the East Block is only open through early Sept.  That timing may not work to squeeze in a trip, but I'll see what I can do.  I'm also starting to think seriously about a trip to Quebec City, but I don't think there is any specific time restriction on that, and it might be nicer to visit in the late fall or even early winter, assuming it isn't too cold.

I got back in plenty of time for the actors for the table read.  I think it went quite well, though it was interesting that the pieces I thought were more or less settled needed a bit more conflict and they didn't see any real reason to chance the Meeting Mr. Mouse, whereas I had heard from another reviewer that one needed quite an overhaul.  At any rate, they seemed pretty enthusiastic and really liked a couple of them, so I just need to get a date settled for Sept. and then we'll do one more table read to make sure they are ready.  I almost wish we went back to the original plan for a full staging, but honestly, this will be better, and I can then focus on my more serious pieces.

I had thought pretty seriously about catching Burn This tonight, but in the end, I decided I was done leaving the neighbourhood for the time being.  As you can imagine, it was a very busy weekend, and I could use some rest (and perhaps work just a bit more on the quilt).