Today (Sunday) we took Lorraine to the Reifel Bird Sanctuary. This is turning into one of the marquee places we take visitors now, especially the outdoorzy birder types. The weather was reasonable, but showers and thunderstorms were threatening so we were constantly on the lookout for wet weather. Aidan doesn’t look too impressed, but he really enjoyed the ducks this time. He was quite interested in them, and got a real kick out of them eating birdseed right off his stroller.

We saw lots of different birds. Ducks, and Canada Geese of course. The Sandhill Cranes were out today, as were three or four Great Blue Herons. We saw tons of swallows and red-winged blackbirds. Crows. And, some treats for Lorraine. Two Great Horned Owls, and a bald eagle. Oh, and a rooster, a hen, and a few poults.

Sandhill Crane…

Great Horned Owl…

Bald Eagle…

GBH…

Ducks!

Rooster…

Unidentified wildlife…

OK, I’m not quite sure exactly what that means.

We saw Cabaret on Saturday night. It had received pretty mixed reviews, but that’s pretty much all that was playing while Lorraine is here, so you take what you can get.

Neither Gwen nor I knew much about it going in. I was aware that it was supposed to be a little risque, and Gwen knew the lead song (referenced in the title) but that was pretty much it.

All in all, I think we both enjoyed it. It wasn’t particularly risque. The singers and dancers were pretty good. The story was a little rambly … bits of Chicago (written by the same people) and bits of Moulin Rouge (yes, I’m aware that Cabaret pre-dates Moulin Rouge). I don’t know what the deal is with Germany lately; between Cabaret, The Sound of Music, and The Producers, we’ve been a little Nazi’d out I think.

John Mann played the Emcee. John Mann is the lead singer/songwriter for Spirit of The West — a band I’m not particularly fond of — but I didn’t hold that against him. Actually, he was the best part of the show. His facial expressions were perfect for the part, and his singing was great.

The other actors were only so-so. The actress who played the female lead Sally Bowles (the actress was Sara-Jeanne Hosie) was a little too much in the Liza Minelli style (who, apparently was a big part of the original production — a fact I didn’t know until after the first act) and frankly, didn’t measure up to what I imagined Liza Minelli would have done. The Kit Kat Girls were okay, but nothing spectacular, and the older couple were also okay but not stellar.

Still we enjoyed the show and our “date night”.