Dinner: Fagiolini Italiani with Shrimp and Rice

 

Olney Theatre Center: Kim's Convenience

 The play that gave birth to the Netflix's/CBC series of the same name.  It is a snippet from the story of a Korean family's immigration to Toronto in pursuit of the Canadian Dream.  The play opens with the patriarch receiving a very generous offer to purchase the store that he founded decades ago.  His wife is devoted to a dying church, his daughter is still single and driving him crazy, his son is estranged and has just become a father of his own son, unbeknownst to the patriarch.  Great fodder for comedy, right?  Well, yes!  Yes it is.  The plot is simple, the goal is to right the things that have gone wrong, and humor and poignancy Ins Choi accomplishes all just over 90 minutes.  What more could you ask for when in the mood for a light summer diversion?  

The set was an elaborate recreation of the inside of a convenience story in Toronto complete with lots of culturally appropriate references like the Canadian Lottery and the selection of the crisps on the rack.  In one scene clearly Canadian currency is exchanged during a purchase.  And while its not like the play was set in Nepal or Uruguay and needed to appropriate items from those places, it was still a delight to see the attention to details.

The cast is made of five actors: Father, Mother, Daughter, Son and 1 ensemble player who took on four roles.  As an ensemble, they made a nice balance.  From what I know from previous exposure to some, Tuyét Thį Phąm was the most outstanding of the company in the role of the Umma (the Mother).  She brings a quiet presence to any part that can transform a moment by the most subtle or unexpected turn.  As the scene between herself and her son close, he reached down to grab his backpack and in pulling up onto his shoulder, a plate with half-a-dozen soda cans toppled.  She immediately stooped and re-established order.  At first, I thought what a brilliant metaphor for the role of her character in the family.  Then I thought about the expression of the actor playing the son's face.  It was an unintentional gaff.  And without skipping a beat, she made something remarkable out of it.  

Playing until the 27th of July, recommended for my local peeps--although I learned from the young woman sitting next to me that the rest of the run is sold out.  In fact, tonight was sold out and she got in with a stand-by ticket.  

Mr. Kim (Stan Kang) and his daughter, Janet (Justine "Icy" Moral) as he tries to convince her to take over the store so he can retire.

Officer Alex (Jonathan del Palmer) flirting with Janet.

Mrs. Kim (Tuyét Thį Phąm) reasoning with her son, Jung (Zion Jang) over his past relationship with his father.

Mr. Kim employing his Korean martial arts skills to facilitate a conversation between his daughter and Officer Alex.

The "arm twisting" bears fruit!

Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Center - Moundsville, Ohio

 A lovely coda to my recent trip and visit with my dear friend in Wheeling.  We visited the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Center in Moundsville, West Virginia.  It's a wonderful little museum and research center built next to the Grave Creek Mound, one of dozens of known sites created by the Adena people BCE; a.k.a The Mound Builders.  The museum is free and includes both information about the Adena People and this mound, as well as, other aspects of local history, industry and culture.  I had such a good time exploring it's displays and artifacts.  There was a little something for everyone.

This giant Woolly Mammoth skeleton dominates the main room and is the first thing you see upon entering.

Prehistoric Fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago to a 100,000 few tell the fauna story of this region.

THE STORY OF THE ADENA PEOPLE

Take me to any museum and show me a quality diorama if you want to see me swoon!

Glyphs left by the ancient civilization.

LOCAL TOY INDUSTRY AND THE MARBLE

GLASS AND POTTERY MANUFACTURING

Olgebay Good Zoo - Exterior Habitats

I grant you this, the map is not current.  The train on the
tracks were taken down a couple of years ago in favor of a
gas powered, rubber tire version. 

 Once you leave the back side of the entrance building you have a choice.  Go left or go right.  It doesn't matter.  It's all just an irregular loop.  The building sits on high ground.  You're going to walk up and down and then finally up mostly no matter which direction you choose.

The habitats are not generally abutted to one another.  There will be times when you walk a little ways to get to the next one.  And there will be places where they seem to be more clustered.  With such a simple arrangement, you'd think it would be difficult to miss anything; however, after the fact I looked at the map and was surprised to see both Grevy's Zebras and Ostriches on the thing and never saw either OR a habitat where either might have been...  Was I obtuse, or is the information on the website out of date?  It feels like a coin toss to me.

The animals are loosely ordered by region, and when you choose to go right as we did, you encounter African animals first.  On this morning we also met two beautiful and sweet Mediterranean Miniature Donkeys on their way in the company of two keepers to the paddock on the other side of the loop.  Africa was followed by Australia, and then it felt less cohesive.  While habitats are secure and well appointed, there is far less artifice at this zoo, and what there is seems less important.  It's a question I would sincerely put to the administration of the zoo regarding how to focus their future growth.

Speaking of which, one of the first things you see, even before the animal welfare clinic, is a sign proclaiming to future arrival of African Lions.  They next dedicated project of the zoo is to construct a new African Lion habitat.  This will clearly eclipse all of the existing habitats in terms of design and iconic status.  There are still a handful of species that seem to define the essence of a "real" zoo.  Elephants, Rhinoceros, Giraffe, Gorilla, Tigers, and; yes, LIONS.  

What we saw on our journey around the outside loop...

RED RIVER HOGS

Potamochoerus porcus

CHEETAH

Acinonyx jubatus

The climb to the Australian animals and Lemurs

The Kangaroo and Wallaby Walk

RED KANGAROO

Osphranter rufus

RED-NECKED WALLABY

Notamacropus rufogriseus

WHITE-AND-BLACK RUFFED LEMUR

Varecia veriegata

This little Blue Barn is home to an African Spurred Tortoise

Upon seeing us, he wanted to come over and say, "Hello!"

AFRICAN SPURRED TORTOISE

Centrochelys sulcata

MANED WOLF

Chrysocyon brachyurus

If you look closely, perhaps squint or enlarge the image, you might be able to see this South American canine napping like most of the other Good animals.

A collection of buildings anchored by this traditional Red Barn awaited us at the far end of the pathway.  There were a cluster of habitats, Red Wolves, Snow Leopards, and Chinese Goral all had lovely spaces, and all were no en casa on this hot and humid summer day.

MEDITERRANEAN MINIATURE DONKEY

Equus asinus asinus

DOMESTIC FERRET

Mustela putorius furo