Ross Petty - Snow White

Well, this was a little more fractured than normal, but no less hilarious. Ross Petty has a real knack for taking a popular fairy tale and weaving in adult in jokes, local politics and popular culture into it. In this year's production, Snow White was paired with a motley crew of other fairy tale charterers instead of the dwarfs. Add 007 to battle the bad guys and you have a real mix-up. My daughter called it right when she said she expected to see Gangum Style pop up at some point.

As usual, the audience booed the evil stepmother (Ross Petty as cross-dresser), although they had to be cued - must have been mostly new comers. A young heckler from the audience, attempting to give away the plot, was quickly dispatched and absorbed into the story.

Attending Ross Petty's panto each year at Christmas time has been a tradition for our family for many years now and it never fails to disappoint. My son, now a teenager, wasn't planning on joining us this year, but was glad that he did. Book your tickets right away as the last performance is Jan 5.

Soulpepper - A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is one of my all time favourite stories and I look forward to enjoying several versions each year during the holiday season. My favourite versions include the 1951 Alastair Sim movie and Soulpepper Theatre's live production, which they seem to mount every other year.

Joseph Ziegler plays a magnificent Scrooge. He captures the character perfectly and handles the transformation from "humbug" to regaining his inner joy in a truly believable manner. I just love watching him slowly melt from a crotchety unhappy soul into a foolish and giddy friend to all.

This is a magnificent play and I strongly recommend you include it in your Christmas plans in the future.

British Columbia - Sun Peaks Resort

A 45 min drive from Kelowna British Columbia is the best family winter resort I have ever been to (OK, its the only winter resort I have been to, but I'm sure it has to be one of the best - tons of ski hills at all levels, snowshoeing, lessons and tours, outdoor swimming, skating, tubing in the snow, cross country skiing, restaurants, shops, bars, coffee shops, grocery store, accommodation to fit any size of party or need. It takes a while to get here and there are no flight deals to take some of the sting out of the overall cost, but it is well worth the stay for those that are keen on either learning to ski or those that are looking for challenging hills, no crowds and the opportunity to spend some fun family time together. There's lots of fun things to do - something for everyone.

Day 1 I slept in, then enjoyed a very good latte with some friends in a cute little cafe. Picked up some snow shoes and a trail pass (cheap at $20 for the day) and followed the yellow snowshoe trail. What a gorgeous walk - along a narrow path cutting through the trees and winding up and down the mountain this was truly a most enjoyable and peaceful way to enjoy this winter wonderland. The trees were heavy with snow, the vistas were awesome and it was just so quite and peaceful. I felt as though we were just meandering along for a little while, but we walked for 2 hours. Those snowshoes really make walking over snow easy - duh!

The snowshoe trails are groomed every day and wind their way through some beautiful vistas. You can easily spend several hours wandering along the well marked trails. Remember to bring some water and snacks. Its very cheap to use the trails, if you have your own snowshoes, but it is also low cost to rent some. Some Australian friends gave me some good advice for sore muscles - gin and tonic, as the quinine in the tonic acts as a anti-inflammatory (and the gin makes the medicine go down better ..........).

I tried the snow limo tour, which is where you are strapped into a dog sled and a highly experienced skiier takes you down the hill. Its a great opportunity to experience the thrill of skiing, without any of the work or personal risk, particularly if you're not particularly co-ordinated, like me. It was a bit of a surreal experience, similar to the sensation of watching an IMAX film, but you also have the direct sensation of the weather. Definitely worth a run if you don't plan on doing any skiing.

The outdoor pool is fun, although not as warm as we expected. Lots of the accommodation choices also feature an outdoor hot tub, so you may want to go this route instead.

Transfers to the resort from the airport are very well organized and the driver will generally wait for you, if your flight is late, which seems to be the case very regularly from Calgary. Make sure the transfers are available on the day you're flying, before booking your ticket, particularly if you're going early or late in the season.

TSO Pops - A Merry TS0 Christmas

Another one of our favourite family traditions is to take in the TSO Christmas POPS concert. It officially starts the Christmas celebrations off for our family in earnest, unleashing shortbread, goodies and eggnog.

The program this year was wonderful, with no shortage of talent joining the orchestra. The show featured the ESA Choir, Holiday Dancers, Highland Creek Pipes and Drums and Colin Mochrie as narrator. The closing piece, The Twelve Days of Christmas, was an absolutely charming piece with a wide cast of characters appearing for each of the gifts. Among the many vignettes unfolding was the two turtledoves meeting, dating, breaking up over a french hen, and finally making up again. The pear tree was particularly charming as she slogged through her part over and over and over ...

This was the last performance for this year, but I recommend you watch out for this show next year.

Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe - Christmas Show

One of the most important of our family Christmas traditions is the Stuart McLean Christmas show. While we loved the intimate setting of Convocation Hall, vs the Sony Centre, if you can get seats in the front section (book really early, folks), then its almost as good.

This year's show featured two new stories, one old favourite, a really lovely vignet of the perfect Christmas Carol mixed tape. And a very contemporary expidition of Dave with his now adult daughter. It's incredible how Stuart McLean can continue to come up with new ways for Dave to embarass his family in his bumbling, lovable way.

A favourite of the show is also the musical talent showcased, some old and some new. We were treated to amazing performances from a 17 year old contest winner and Reid Jamieson, a recent winner for his own composition. We brought home his CD and Jerusalem, the new CD of classical Christmas carols from the piano player. The Vinylettes, 3 lovely ladies, mesmerized with their beautiful voices.

If you don't know who Stuart McLean is, I strongly encourage you to tune into CBC on Sunday late mornings and listen in to the Vinyl Cafe. Maybe we'll see you at the Christmas show next year!

RSGC - The Tempest

The RSGC and BSS Drama students ambitiously tackled William Shakespeare's "The Tempest". While the dialogue is challenging to learn and deliver, it is equally challenging for the audience to understand and follow. For those that hadn't boned up with their "coles notes", the story was a little harder to follow. Also, the music sometimes drowned out the actors.

Notwithstanding, the students did an amazing job of mastering the dialogue, the drunken sailors were very authentic (hmmmmm ....), the love birds were endearing, the fairy was charming and Prospero was deliciously manipulative.

The score was written by the conductor (a grade 11 student) and was awesome and beautifully executed by the band.

Bravo to the actors and the musicians.

National Geographic - Robert Ballard: Adventures in Deep Sea Exploration

Robert Ballard wanted to explore the seas, like his hero Captain Nemo, from a very young age. At 70, he still exudes the passion and excitement you would expect from that teenager.

With a zest for "going where no man has gone before on planet earth", he is as committed to deep sea exploration as he is to developing this passion in students. He has built an incredible network of command posts to provide the world's top experts at the scene within 30 minutes of a discovery. He is embedding student programs across science centres, museums and schools.

Ballard pioneered innovative approaches to exploration through robotics and to sharing of these results through real time transmission via television studios at the beginning. He is now fully leveraging the power of the internet. He has definitely not been left behind by technology.

This is a great segment to share with your budding scientist, but be prepared for a big bill as he/she will need masters and doctoral level degrees in engineering, math, geology, ....

CanStage - Ignorance

Ignorance takes you on a journey in search of happiness. Are you happy, what makes you happy? Alternating between miserable old folks, as suggested by their scowling countenances, and a prehistoric lovestruck couple, we watch them struggle and survive. This is particularly poignant as the characters are puppets. The modern day puppets rely on the puppetmaster for their arms and legs. The prehistoric puppets are very crude, but strangely endearing. There are some crude scenes - this is definitely not for the sensitive, but I enjoyed it and recommend you give it a try.

A Bat Mitzvah

Our family was invited to a bat mitzvah on Sat eve and it was an awesome celebration. Set in a New York theme, the guests were treated to a Saturday Night Live in New York. Rocking all night to a DJ and dance troupe, who expertly led everyone in the latest dance moves, the crowd was on their feet all night. The young adults loved the DJ and significantly outlasted the parents - we had to pry them off the dance floor. For many of the young crowd, this was their first big party and the guest of honour made it a very special night for everyone.