Cissa and I went to see KOOZA last night under the big tent (Grand Chapiteau) at Atlantic Station.
 
Incredible acrobatics as always, but this is nowhere near my favorite Cirque du Soleil performance. As I Twittered last night, this production needed more gymnastics and fewer fart jokes.
 
That being said, I'm curious about one thing. During the double-highwire act, one of the performers stumbled, fell, caught himself on the wire, climbed back up, and continued. Was it truly an accident? Or was it planned? I'm suspicious because it seemed too well choreographed with the music. But he lost his hat into the audience, and that doesn't seem like part of an act. Maybe an intentional stumble, and an accidental hat loss?
 
I'd be curious to hear from people who saw it on other nights than January 13th. Did one of the highwire artists fall, then catch himself?

I bought my wife a double-sided jigsaw puzzle for Christmas. The same scene is printed on both sides, but rotated ninety degrees. So, from looking at a piece, you can't immediately tell which way is up!
 
To me, it's a recipe for frustration and futility. But Cissa calmly cleaned off a glass-topped table and found a hand mirror...
 
I swear, put this woman in a red wig and she'd be a Heinlein heroine! (And, from me, there is no higher praise...)

Advice to a friend who is planning a trip to Australia, and wants to know which camera to carry...
 
If you're going to Australia just to take photographs, buy a DSLR and all the lenses/accessories your chiropractor will let you carry.
 
If you're taking your family, buy something like my Canon A720is, and focus on the experience, not the photographs.
 
http://www.academicvc.com/2008/07/travel-lessons-learned.html
 
Professionals are always going to get better photographs than you are. Buy postcards wherever you go if all you want is landscapes and wildlife. But no professional is going to get pictures of your wife and your kids. The less time you spend fiddling with the equipment, the more time you have to get pictures of your kids. And those are the pictures you're going to want to look at over and over again.