Showtime

When I was a wee lad, an annual highlight was attending the Newcastle Show - or, if I was impatient and had the chance to tag along with a friend, the earlier, less spectacular Maitland Show. Confectionery/toy showbags, dodgy rides (such as the "Battlestar Galactica" ghost train - darkness, loud horns, descending gorilla hands and that was it!), sideshow alley, videogame tents and abundant fried/sugary food equalled kid heaven. However, as with many things, the novelty wore off during high school and I never returned.

Today, mainly for nostalgia's sake but partly out of curiousity 'cos it's so famous, I made my first visit to the Royal Easter Show. It was exactly what I remembered from Newie - minus the mini-arcades - just on a grander scale. How tastes change! I rode, played and ate nothing, buying only the value-for-money "PC PowerPlay" showbag. But I spent a good two hours looking at animals (alpacas rule!), handicrafts, produce, wood chopping and other stuff the young Addster woulda dismissed as "boring". He'd have appreciated the freestyle motocross, high-wire stunts and precision ute driving, though.

I also saw the 7.10pm session of "Be Kind Rewind" at Cinema Paris in the Entertainment Quarter. Plot in a nutshell: Jack Black and Mos Def are left in charge of Danny Glover's struggling video shop, all the tapes get wiped, they begin remaking the movies (they call it "Sweding") with the help of Melonie Diaz, they're suddenly inundated with customers. What it lacks in the comma department, "B/K/R" makes up for in imagination and - as sappy as it sounds - heart.


Latest wacky ice tea: Wintermelon. An unusual, clean sweetness.