Thu, Jul 29 2004 - Roarin' Rhythms at the Zoo: Plaid Tongued Devils (View Original Event Details)
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It was a warm, sunny summer evening (without a mosquito in sight!), so sunny that a few members even had to reluctantly apply sunscreen as they were getting sunburned.
As it was hot in the tent, our group sat outside to wait for the band to start. (The band was also outside playing hacky sack.) But when the band DID start, everyone was just too comfortable (or lazy) to move inside so the sound was a bit muffled. We did, however, enjoy the enthusiastic dancing of the little kids.
At intermission, one had to leave as they weren't feeling well (not due to the food there though some people did complain about the very limited menu - no junk food!). Half of us went to visit the Siberian tigers, owls, macaques, and snow leopards. While Gen tried to provoke the three tigers to hiss, they unfortunately/fortunately ignored her. Then Mike B tried to help one tiger out by flushing out some birds out of a bush. As he got near the bush, the tiger pounced and scattered a group of nearby sparrows (by the bush). Then the tiger also marked/sprayed some of the posts by us. We figured it was time to leave them alone. On the way back, we also watched the owls watching us and a mother macaque nursing her baby. As a bonus, a passing zoo keeper also gave us some insight into the snow leopards' vicious courting behavior - hence the separate cages.
The others went to see the male moose who had his antler torn off by the protective mother moose. And poor Kate was unable to find anyone after going to the washroom! (So we were quickly reminded of the importance of informing others when going to the washroom, especially when you don't have a backpack to leave on the trail indicating your intentions.)
We returned to the tent as the band started up again. Unfortunately, we lost two more members to dinner commitments. (So Mike #1 was gone.) The rest of us went into the tent for a more intimate performance and the infectious beat soon got us clapping and dancing. Gen immediately demonstrated her special ability to energetically dance without spilling her beer. Marina also had a special way to hold her drink. While the audience had thinned out (especially those with young children), our little group made enough noise to make up for them.
At the second intermission, we lost 3 more members. (So Mike #2 was gone.) But the eight of us who stayed (including Mike #3), soon took over the dance floor - first by removing chairs, then by scaring away the kids by asking them to dance. Soon we were joined by two new dance friends. Many dance styles sporadically emerged (from belly dancing to disco to Ukrainian kicks). But like the kids earlier, we didn't care how we looked as we were having fun and no one had a camera! (Oops, I forgot the band had a camcorder! Hopefully, we don't appear on any "How Not to Dance" videos or websites. Guess I shouldn't give them any ideas.)
Was our dancing frenzy ignited by the band's superb muscial talent or the impending full moon or our consumption of alcohol? Perhaps, it was a combination of all of the above.
- Wendy
P.S. We also tried to convince the band to join the COC!