Cirque du Soleil: Kooza

Saw Kooza in San Francisco tonight: Awesome.

The last circus I saw was Archaos: the Chainsaw Circus in Islington, North London, so understand that I'm not a fan of your usual Ringling Bros. fare. I want stories, I want spectacle, and I want a lot of danger (or at least the perception thereof). Kooza had all three. The guys in the spinning cages alone were worth the price of admission.

Practical notes: we sat on the far, far left as you face the stage (door 7), and we still got to see just about everything; Yoko would have liked to sit closer to center so as to get a front-on view of the guys in the spinning cages. The seats were a bit small and uncomfortable, and I had to hunch to avoid blocking the view of the little old lady behind me, but the show moves along nicely enough that I didn't get too cramped. Parking was $20, but we showed up just before the show (damn you, Bay Bridge!) and still got a great spot that had us out of there in no time.

Geography!

The clever folks at TravelPod.com have put together a fascinating little Flash game that tests your ability to place locations on a world map. Fun, fun, fun! Be warned, the game takes a little time to do.

I got to level 11 and 440,086 points. How did you do?

Terry Pratchett: Sad News

Terry Pratchett announces that he has early-onset Alzheimer's.

Hang in there, Terry.

[Update: A fan makes an impassioned plea here.]