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Amusement and Theme Parks When I was very young, growing up in Toronto, I remember my grandfather taking me to an amusement park called Sunnyside. Sunnyside is long since gone and, by the standard of today's elaborate theme parks, it must have been somewhat humble. However, to me, it was exciting, and the memories of the amusement park visits with my grandfather will stay with me always. Sometimes at night, I close my eyes and go back in time to the days when life was so simple, so sweet and so safe. When you take your kids to a park, isn't it wonderful to know that you are giving them memories that will delight and comfort them for a lifetime? Web:
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Burning Man Burning Man started in San Francisco as an annual artistic event, the focus of which was the burning of a large, manlike wooden structure. In 1990, the festival moved to the Nevada desert. At first it was small, but from an inauspicious beginning, Burning Man has metamorphosed into a huge, non-commercial, temporary community dedicated to creativity, strangeness, celebration and fun (and burning a man). Web:
Circuses A circus travels from town to town, putting on a show at each stop. Traditionally, circuses feature clowns, acrobats, trained animals, as well as a variety of other acts. Along with the entertainment, there is a ringmaster (master of ceremonies) and a band, all of which create an overall feeling of fun and excitement. Although there are many circuses in the world, my favorite is Boomschmidt's Stupendous and Unexcelled Circus. In general, I like circuses, but I do have one question that has always puzzled me: Why are clowns so scary? Web:
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Drive-in Theaters The original drive-in theater, a truly American invention, opened in Camden, New Jersey in 1933. For the first time in history, men and women could enjoy a movie while relaxing in the privacy of their own cars. (Remember, this was years before video, when the only way to see a movie was to go to a public theater.) In the post-war 1940s, the drive-in took on a prominent role as one of the places to take your date on a Saturday night. This role peaked in the 1950s, as mid-America discovered the convenience of being able to go out without paying a babysitter and watch a movie in curlers (Mom), an undershirt (Pop), or pajamas (Sis and Junior), while chowing down on all-beef hotdogs and ice-cold cups of Coke. Still, as wholesome as this image is, whisper the words "drive-in" to anyone over the age of fifteen, and you can't help but evoke a feeling of, well, opportunity. As a woman friend (whose name I won't mention and, no, you can't have her email address) recently told me, "Every time I go to a drive-in theater I have to have sex." God bless America is all I can say. Web:
Film Festivals If the last 100 years ever come to be known as the Century of the Film, surely the 1990s will be recognized as the Decade of the Film Festival. Do you have any idea how many different film festivals there are in the world? A lot, that's how many. By my calculations, it won't be long until the number of film festivals each year outnumbers the number of new films. When this happens, I will be ready, because I am currently hard at work on a film about film festivals. It's called "Meta Festival" (as in "I never met a film festival I didn't like"). Web:
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Living History If your domestic life seems a bit mild, spice it up by joining the living history buffs who find delight in reenacting historical periods or events. After all, just because you weren't there doesn't mean you have to be left out. Web:
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Mardi Gras In the Christian church, the holiday of Easter is preceded by Lent, a 40-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, which is observed as a season for fasting and penitence. The day before the beginning of Lent is called Shrove Tuesday. Many people traditionally use this day to feast, in preparation for Lent. Thus, Shrove Tuesday is also called Mardi Gras, which means "Fat Tuesday" in French. In many places around the world, the days leading up to Mardi Gras are celebrated as a large carnival, lasting a week or more. Among the most celebrated carnivals are those of New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. Such carnivals involve non-stop music and dancing, and lots and lots of fun. If you think you can stand this much applied hedonism, use the Net to check out the Mardi Gras carnival closest to you. Web:
Music Festivals Isn't music amazing? It's fun to listen to music all by yourself, but it's also enjoyable when you are outside, surrounded by thousands of other people, something you can't say about anything else in the world. If you are a music festival buff, you'll be glad to know that wherever you are, the Net can help you find some type of festival to attend. As Jan and Dean put it, "Ride, ride, ride, the wild surf. Gotta take that one last ride." Go for it. Web:
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Powwows A powwow is a traditional gathering of Native Americans: a celebration featuring singing, dancing and drumming. In modern times, powwows have evolved into elaborate events offering ceremonies, family reunions, festivals, pageants, and entertainment. Each year, powwows are held across North America, attracting many participants and visitors. There are even professionals who, every summer, travel the powwow circuit, in order to dance or drum at many different events. If you have never been to a powwow, give it a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the richness of your experience. Web:
Rainbow Gatherings The spirit of peace, love and happiness of the sixties lives on, yes it does. It lives within the hearts of the Rainbow Family (a.k.a. the Rainbow Family of Living Light and the Rainbow Nation). The Rainbow Family is a loosely organized group of groups around the world, dedicated to the ideals of...well...peace, love and happiness. Since 1972, they have been holding large and small gatherings in remote forests around the world. Rainbow Gatherings are truly non-commercial. Money is not necessary. Everyone is welcome. Should you go? As a friend of mine, who used to be a flower child, put it, "If I were young, that sounds like something I could really get into." Web:
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Renaissance Fairs A renaissance fair (or faire) is a celebration, often put on by a commercial company, at which people dress in costumes and participate in activities associated with 16th-century Elizabethan England. At a renaissance fair, the view from the past mixes actual history with fantasy. You'll find a pretend world in which the idealizations of romance and chivalry are mixed with music, games, food, drama, competitions, crafts and dancing, with a measure of knights, dragons and fairies thrown in for atmosphere. Web:
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Roller Coasters You are utterly terrified, screaming. Your heart is pounding and you think you might lose your cookies at any moment. You are on a roller coaster and, as scary as the ride seems, the whole thing is over much too soon. You tell yourself you can take it or leave it, but soon you are an addict. Don't worry, you are not alone. There are frenzied roller coaster fans all over the world. Web:
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Society for Creative Anachronism Step back in time to the Middle Ages, where chivalry lives and everyone's lives are ordered by the rising and setting of the sun. Watch people dress up in metal and hit each other with sticks. Experience the grace and beauty of period costuming. Discover the festivity of a real medieval feast. Members and friends of the SCA discuss how it feels to live life in the modern Middle Ages. Web: Usenet:
State and County Fairs Ooohhh, I love fairs. I love the smells, the noise, the animals, the buildings and all the exhibits, and, of course, the food. When I was growing up in Toronto, I loved going to the "Ex" (the Canadian National Exhibition or CNE), a huge fair held every year during the last part of the summer. My favorite activity was to go into the Food Building, get a container of spaghetti for a quarter at the Primo Spaghetti booth, snarf a cold drink, and take it all across the way where I could eat comfortably in a cool, air-conditioned theater that showed free scientific, religious propaganda films. When I moved to the U.S., I learned to enjoy the county and state fairs, which seem to have more of an emphasis on agriculture. If you are visiting the U.S., I strongly urge you to visit a fair. And if you visit Canada, see if you can visit CNE in Toronto or its West Coast counterpart, the PNE (Pacific Nation Exhibition) in Vancouver. Web:
World Exposition The 1967 World's Fair in Montreal, Canada was the scene of one of my biggest accomplishments. I was just a kid, and I loved walking around by myself and exploring the many "pavilions". Most of the pavilions were sponsored by a specific country. When you visited a pavilion, they would stamp your "passport" (a small booklet you got when you entered the grounds). As I walked around, I had a copy of the official Expo 67 guidebook, which had a one-page description of each pavilion. What was my accomplishment? I went to every pavilion, over a hundred, and had them stamp my guidebook on the page for that pavilion. If you ever get a chance to go to a World's Fair, why not see if you can visit every building the way I did? It's good practice if you ever want to be the type of person who would create an Internet Yellow Pages. Web:
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