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  The Kansas City Ballet put forth another excellent performance of the fantastical tale of The Nutcracker, with Tchaikovsky accompaniment by the Kansas City Symphony.  The story, the music, and dancers glowed against a well-designed backdrop that supported and enhanced the dreamlike intent of the story quite well. As a first-time viewer of this production, it proved quite intriguing and captivating.  Dancers and musicians put out their very best, including the younger participants who seemed to not miss a single queue.  This is definitely a fun and unique spectacle that is worth seeing at least on one occasion in a lifetime.

Out for a walk one afternoon enabled an opportunity to catch a little art-in-action at a location not readily apparent.  It is one of those places you have to know about, or be on a quest to discover.  Indeed, I had no idea Rewind Video even existed any longer, yet there it is, on the back of the building, getting a fresh coat of paint by none other than Sike Style. The new art is just the beginning of the story.  While the sign itself is a nostalgic nod, what lies beneath and beyond is a brilliant new chapter for the location.   "Rewind Video" is not the video tape rental shop from years gone by, but a basement dive bar, serving up a 1990's vibe through Capri Sun mixers and analog gaming consoles.  All of this will undoubtedly prove itself a fun, adults only gaming diversion.

  A random invitation led to attending a different sort of performance, put on by another local puppet troupe at Mid-Continent Public Library North Oak Branch. What if Puppets of Kansas City  offered up the intriguing little story " How to Snag a Sea Monster " about a sea creature and a giant baby that washed up on the shores of Barnacle Bay in Cape Cod.  The performance enthralled and amused a wide age range of attendees on Saturday morning, transforming a routine weekend morning into an imaginative voyage and an opportunity for a fresh look at one of the newer library locations.

A warmer than usual November evening set the stage for a different sort of performance from Stone Lion Puppet Theater than had been done in previous expositions. The drive- through was abandoned, eliminating an evening of wandering about observing the glowing puppets up close. We had expected that and set our course accordingly, first enjoying a good meal from Los Alamos before securing optimal parking at the site of the event . Instead, we found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands, waiting in anticipation.  The urge to give up on the two-and-a-half-hour wait was real, as there was little more to do beyond a handful of vendors and poorly organized food trucks. It was nearly impossible to figure out where one line began and the other ended.  That challenge was only outranked by the viewing angle from the terrace below the stage.   We endured the wait though, with the help of a good sound system surrounding us on the stairs, and a little Spiced Chai fr...

A visit to Searcy found the Riverview Raiders stumped and unable to vanquish the invading Panthers from Heber Springs.  They held fast in the second half, only permitting another 7 points and gain 6 for themselves in the last few minutes of the same.  Most of the game was a brutal beating for them though, with the Panthers scoring goal after goal. We were there for the music though, believe it or not.  A close friend was playing for the Heber Springs Marching Band, and we pounced on the rare opportunity to hear them play.  The opposing team put up on fairly fantastic half-time performance that kept the stands pinned down to their seats.