Fun, games, and so forth

Lest you think a city rabbit’s life is all museums and consumerism, I’m uploading a few photos of my recent visit to an arcade. I may have missed the golden age of video games by twenty or thirty years, but that doesn’t mean I can’t turn off the home system and venture out now and then.

Granted, it’s hard to get the party started when Rob’s in a life-or-death struggle with the change machine.

Rob’s just gonna turn around and use this for that set of Trouble-themed tarot cards he’s always talked about, isn’t he?

This has to be the strangest bocce court I’ve ever seen.

...and clearly, I need a lot more practice.

Worst budget safari ever.

Well, maybe we’ll have better luck at Kidspace in Pasadena. Lauren invited us to accompany her boys Kai (who’s 4) and Liam (almost 2), and who are we to turn down some educational fun? The entrance alone was practically worth the trip—could this be the coolest foyer ever? It just might be.

Kidspace has a few different themes going on, but the big one is the secret lives of insects, so a lot of acreage is dedicated to scaled objects that give you an idea of what it’s like from a bug’s perspective. As if human-size stuff isn’t pain enough for me to negotiate.

Oh, the company I find myself keeping these days.

There’s also a geology area, with exhibits on erosion, seismic activity, strata, and so on.

Oy. I knew I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque.

Man. I am so gonna serve up some thunderbolts right now.

Rawr. I am Godzilla. Rawr.

But really, the best fun is the kind that comes from your own imagination, I find. Trite, but only because it’s true. When we came back to Kai’s place, he all but tipped over his entire toy box for us. Look, I made a four-faced idol! Here, he shows us his alarmist aspect.

But it doesn’t all have to be subversion and adult-oriented humor—I can do straightforward material for the pre-K set as well. See? “TROUBLE + KAI = FUN.” Wholesome enough for you?

“...and that’s how you reconfigure those same blocks into a basic ziggurat.”

But don’t think for a minute that I won’t revert to type in a heartbeat, especially when it comes to competitiveness.

You just got pwned by a rabbit, kid.

And on a completely unrelated note, Happy Chinese New Year! On our way out of the Valley, we hit 99 Ranch, the Asian supermarket. Hey, Rob, should we get lychee jellies or candied winter melon for dessert?

Wouldn’t you know, Rob opted for coffee-flavored wafers instead. Oh well. Gung hay fat choy!

Nature in all its pickled glory

Happy 2010! We kick things off with a visit to LA’s Natural History Museum, which promises lots of taxidermy, funny rocks, and wonky lighting. Join us, won’t you?

Unfortunately, T-Rex and Triclops there are the only dinos currently on display—we’re catching the museum in the middle of a big construction phase, so that’s all the paleontology we’re getting. Only recently dead stuff for us today! With that in mind, past the main entrance is this massive oarfish, which, as you can see, just keeps on going for a while. In fact, the sign says it measures over four meters in length—and that’s less than half the size of the largest confirmed one. That...is a lot of ugly sushi.

Moving on, we enter the Halls of Mounted Dioramas. If you were with us for the zoo trip, you have the fortune of knowing what the backside of an okapi looks like. Well, here’s the front, where their giraffe-ness really comes through. I admire the diorama builders’ restraint in not having either one licking its own eyelids, as okapis are wont to do. The freaks.

Guess this is as close as I’ll ever be getting to a cape buffalo. Of the “Big Five” prized by game hunters—the other four being the lion, the leopard, the elephant, and the rhinoceros—it’s actually these guys that are the most dangerous, because they’re the most aggressive and the likeliest to kill a human. They’re not shy about killing lions, either. Me? Not going out to the savannah without a flamethrower.

Rob, quick—I’ll stand guard, you throw a chair through the glass and get all the qiviut!

The coyote diorama. Ugh, I can’t bear to watch—tell me when it’s over.

...oh. Well, who’s laughing now, Wile E.?

Sensibly, at this point Rob moves us on to another area, which showcases Californian history and material culture. 

Hey, coyotes. Don’t start anything you can’t finish. 

Next up is the Hall of Gems and Minerals. Actually, this was the real highlight of the visit, because of the sheer variety of stones found in the collection. Glittery gold, waxy jade, chalky microcline, florid rhodonite, sleek hematite—they’re all here, and a lot more besides, such as this elegant tower of beryl.

Here’s a recovered chunk of meteorite, which, to my great disappointment, just feels like any old rock. Granted, I don’t know what else I was expecting out of it. Okay, maybe superpowers.

Mmm. Jabby, but if this is the throne I can get, I’ll learn to live with it.

Then upstairs was the bird wing. No, they’re not ortolans, so you can just put down that napkin, Grabby.

Much to our surprise, the bird exhibit segues into the rainforest exhibit. Hey there, Mr. Deadly Sin! How’s it hangin’?

I suppose you’ll want me to do the yell.

Okay, Rob, that’s a wrap! Let’s go home—I’ve got a coyotes-vs.-cape buffalos deathmatch to set up...

How we do it in the OC

Time for the annual Christmas shopping trip in Orange County—but first, a little detour because I'm craving dim sum. I've never actually been to Chinatown, but it's pretty much what I expected. Not so many women whose daughters are their sisters, though.

Lunchtime at the Empress Pavilion! Wow, where do I begin?

Waiting for Rob outside one of the mini-markets. Hang on, guys—liberation is on the way!

Well, we couldn't dally too much, but we did swing by the local wishing fountain on the way out. Seems pretty specialized, what with specific targets for such things as luck, health, and peace. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one marked "miracle"; I think more than a few of us wouldn't mind one of those these days...

Next stop: Downtown Disney! Rainforest Cafe being close to the parking lot, we thought we'd hit the gift store first for possible stocking stuffers.

This is why character heads never make a credible fashion statement.

Rob being indecisive, though, I eventually decided it'd be easier if I just waited for him in the restaurant.

Yo, barkeep! What's a rabbit gotta do to get a Green Python around here?

The first round of purchases finally made, we beelined to the Lego Imagination Center. Here again it was easier just to let Rob do the legwork while I hung out at the play tables. Hmm, what should I build? Oh, I know...

Kill, my minion, kill.

Also: Go forth, my other minion. But take your inhaler.

Marceline's Confectionary. There is a God.

Okay, on my mark—go.

Unfortunately, that was all the time we had for Anaheim—we wanted to get to the Sawdust Art Festival while there was still daylight. Time for the jacket; it gets cold in Laguna Beach in December!

Like any arts and crafts fair, Sawdust is basically a maze of vendor booths, hawking everything from handmade clothes and jewelry to ceramics, glassware, and metalworking. Where to begin—this way?

That way?

Never mind—the food stands call! Everybody's gotta tried a fried Twinkie sometime, right?

And we couldn't very well do Sawdust without visiting Missy Belland's booth! If you remember from our last visit, Missy was in one of Rob's favorite bands, Voice Of The Beehive, and has since branched out into making handcrafted fairy figures. And among her latest offerings? Bunny-size fairy wands! Thanks, Missy! Not for nothing is "Monsters And Angels" still a popular song in our household.

Next on the tour is Fashion Island in Newport Beach. I've been here outside of the Christmas trips and it's always been pretty busy, especially during the holidays. I figured it'd be interesting to see firstpaw what effect the recession has had on an upscale mall such as this, if any...

...where is everyone?

Well, that doesn't diminish our need for gifts—while Rob was pricing stuff at the toy store, I thought I'd check out their selection of Schleich animal figures. Gotta make sure we're adequately represented, you know?

Hmm. Do you have anything...woodsy?

After dinner, our final stop was Roger's Gardens in Corona Del Mar, just a stone's throw from Fashion Island. Roger's goes all out at Christmas—the outdoor lights are just the tip of the iceberg.

...see? Some trees are decorated by color, others by theme—all the ornaments will be musical instruments or animals or nautical-related, say—but the bottom line is that even I have to maneuver carefully I don't want to bump something breakable. And expensive.

You like nutcrackers? 'Cause we got nutcrackers. Big nutcrackers, little nutcrackers, simple nutcrackers, fancy nutcrackers, all kinds of nutcrackers here on this table. You don't see one you like? We have other tables. Nutcrackers, nutcrackers, nutcrackers!

Or—in case you've forgotten we're in a coastal state—how about seashell wreaths? How many you need? One? Twelve? Let's go with twelve.

Ah, Santa, I knew there was something I liked about you. But then I saw the $1,475 tag and fainted...

Luckily, that was pretty much it for the annual tour anyway; it was time to go home and rest. I don't know about you, but for us it's been a crazy year in some regards; I can only wonder what the next one will bring.

Happy 2010! It kind of needs to be at this point.