Mama Mia!

This weekend, I went to see Mama Mia at the NAC here in Ottawa, with my parents and their friends. What a FANTASTIC show it was.

I love love love ABBA... their songs are super catchy and generally put me in a good mood. The acting was great... and the storyline was all around entertaining. I was really impressed with how a simple stage setup could be used to tell a 3-hour story. Amazing!

The music was really well intertwined into the storyline and it made for a great afternoon. I laughed quite a bit throughout the show... which was also unexpected, but came as a nice surprise!

I really enjoyed the part of the mother and her two sisters (Sophie's aunts)... the actresses' played their roles really well - and were very comical throughout the show!

Overall... Mama Mia gets rave reviews from this happy viewer, I know my parents and their friends also really enjoyed the show too- I would definitely see it again!

Have you seen Mama Mia or any other Broadway type shows that you would recommend?

Calling all farmers!

Please, enlighten me?

How does this happen? Every year around this time the corn fields become extremely prevalent on my drive to and from home. Honestly... back in May, I think the farming community plants their fields, and by June I start to notice a bit of height, and then I don't really pay much attention until August, when I feel like a horse, with blinders on, while driving down the back roads lined with corn stalks, for miles and miles.

This is not a dig at farmers, but I really have to wonder, what in the world do they do with all of the corn they grow?

I have been told that they use it for feed, but has anyone ever stopped to think about how many cobs of corn they get out of one field? It must be in the hundreds of thousands... well beyond the limits that any one cow can tolerate for the duration of his life span. Now... I am no cow (move along people, no joke here)... but cows have got to get sick n' tired being feed corn all. the. time.

And... what about the corn that stays in the ground well beyond prime corn growing season. I am talking about the stalks that turn brown and are subjected to the frost in November. They become wilted and gross looking - in my opinion, rotten... surely, cows aren't forced to eat the rotten corn?

I mean don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of corn on the cob, in fact I picked up a dozen cobs last night for dinner, but, the most we eat in one summer sitting is two to three dozen cobs. And I come to find out (recently), that the sweet corn that humans eat, is not the same type of corn used for feeding. Sweet corn is apparently too good for the animal community!

It's a confusing little topic... and I would really appreciate a farmer, or two - or someone with more knowledge than myself, to weigh in on this topic. Please explain the whole corn growing industry to me, would ya?