Celebrate

December 22, 2001- Happy Anniversary

I understand the temperature in Akron has been around 32 degrees. Isn’t that funny, it’s the same here. The only difference, as David pointed out, was that here it’s centigrade. That makes it about 90 degrees F.

Here’s an update on the Xmas movie dilemma. We were getting mixed messages from people who obviously didn’t have a need to know the Xmas movie customs here. Some said theaters opened at noon & others maintained they didn’t open at all. We took the issue to the experts. We walked across the street to the mall & asked at the theater box office. They open at 4pm on Xmas day. Hooray! Boxing Day, which is Dec. 26, is the opening of Lord of the Rings in Australia. Other than New Year’s, the next holiday is ANZAC (Australia, New Zealand Annual Commemoration) Day & I think things close then too. That’s the end of January.

The temple here is having two good programs I’m sorry we’ll miss. We’ll be in Melbourne. They may be small, but they do put out an effort to have socials. They’re having a judge & Queen’s Council speak on his experiences as an immigrant child from Britain who thought he was orphaned (I told you about him). Then they’re having a Trivial Pursuit night. They organize teams, give prizes, & have great fun.

December 23, 2001- Happy Anniversary Celebration

We had a very enjoyable time at dinner & the show for our anniversary last night. The package we bought from Jupiter’s Casino included both. We chose the Italian restaurant & were given a limited menu. After eliminating the shellfish for both of us & the veal for me, we ended up with a lovely loaf of chiabatta accompanied with dips of sun dried tomato, humus, & baba ganoush, delicious pumpkin soup, luscious smoked chicken penne pasta, & a dramatic macadamia nut & praline tower of ice-cream. With the help of a knowledgeable waiter & a few tastes of wine he offered, I had an enormous glass of cabernet sauvignon to top it off. David stuck to XXXX Gold beer, his favorite in Queensland. One thing I’ve noticed in several restaurants here is that although the décor may be attractive, no one ever sat at the dining tables before they were purchased. Many tables have pedestals that are so large in circumference it’s impossible to pull up close enough to be comfortable. It’s a puzzlement.

We moved on to the theater immediately after dinner. I was surprised to find it had regular theater seats. I thought there’d be a cocktail lounge atmosphere where drinks were served. I guess they can pack more people into a theater configuration. David estimated there were 1200 seats. It wasn’t filled to capacity. Drinks were available from a bar outside, but the offerings in the room itself were more what you’d expect at a ballpark. They had cup holders at the seats & popcorn for sale. They even had people walking up & down the aisles carrying trays of candy & other snacks. A photographer plied his trade among the spectators in hope of selling the photos after the show. Our picture turned out not to be the way I’d want to remember the evening.
As I could have guessed from the number of children in the audience, this was not going to be a typical Las Vegas show. The costuming was extremely modest by Vegas standards. The showgirls all wore bra-type tops & the bottoms were no less than a bikini thong. With all the draping, bedecking, & flowing of skirts & capes, there was a lot less skin visible than at a local mall or beach.

The name of the show was The Hidden Palace. It was Egyptian in theme & at times care was taken to the extreme to stick to that theme. At other times they departed on odd forays into alien realms having no relation to anything remotely Egyptian. At one point the chrome bedecked & laser illuminated star was suspended from visible guide wires as Horus-like dancers pranced below exhibiting angular movement of elbows & knees in an attempt to typify hieroglyphic illustrations. Conversely, when the entire cast was gussied up in “traditional Egyptian garb.” they broke out into vigorous salsa melodies.

Although the theme was Egyptian, there was no storyline to hold it together. It was mainly a variety show. The MC was a magician. I must say the acrobatic acts were superb. I do believe every gay man on the Gold Coast was in the chorus line, all seven of them. They got to dance with banners like the ones we’ve seen used by drill teams during half time at football games. They danced wearing huge golden capes attached to their wrists & could be swirled & twirled in limitless configurations. The feathering & glitter on the costumes was elaborate &, best of all, they were bare-chested throughout the entire show.

To say the show borrowed a bit would be an understatement. They had animal puppets worn by actors like the ones in The Lion King. Three real camels had walk-on parts for no reason other than they were a dramatic addition & happened to live in Australia. There were Sphinx that opened up to reveal a princess & a sarcophagus that was rolled onto the stage with the announcement that, “The King has entered the Palace.” When it opened up, out strolled an Elvis impersonator. It was a showstopper. He launched into his repertoire & had the audience riveted.

We emerged from the casino at about 10:00pm & never set foot in the gambling area. I really thought they missed a marketing opportunity. I half expected to see a chip at my place at the dinner table when I arrived. I’m sure many would have given it a try on the way out. We would have. They could even roll that cost into the price of the ticket.

Blissful Ignorance

There was lightening over the ocean & it looked as if it had been raining a bit. It wasn’t until the next morning we learned that a major storm had devastated the area just 2.5 miles north of us. The winds were around 50 mph & one of our congregants had his balcony door blown in. He was lucky. His vertical blinds were closed & prevented the glass from flying into the room & injuring him. Some of his neighbors were less lucky. Their balconies blew away.

We awoke to sunshine & clear skies as David left for his adult education classes. He’s doing a series on Jewish Mysticism. This week he ventured into the minefield of the “no thing.” For those of you who remember, one Rosh Hashanah he gave a sermon on “Nothing” that had the entire congregation baffled. For those of you who weren’t there, skip to the end. Everyone at that service was sure he’d said something profound & thought that everyone else had understood. Slowly but surely, they realized they weren’t alone in their cluelessness. As he began to approach that philosophical position today, I started to squirm, cringe, & found I had a smirk on my face. I don’t know if the group here is smarter, more polite, or David’s explanation was more lucid, but it worked this time. There’s an Israeli couple who are loyal attendees & who seem to come for the sheer pleasure of challenging David. They tend to couch their questions in terms of what the Hebrew really means. I must say that David has held his own & then some. Today was masterful. I saw them set themselves up & walk right into the realm of his expertise. They questioned a translation on grammatical grounds & were politely, but decisively, trounced. While at Hebrew Union College, the rabbinic seminary, David taught grammar to entry-level students. There’s little about Hebrew grammar he doesn’t know. He was throwing around illustrations of imperfect, perfect, & participles until the Israelis were reeling. It was a beautiful thing.

Toby