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John Thomson  

Here and there

This month the circus comes to town as the world famous Cirque du Soleil brings their circus theatre production to Prospera Place for four days and six shows. Wed. Aug 25 thru Sunday Aug. 29. Two matinees. This is the second time in Kelowna for this truly magnificent show. Tickets are available at Select Your Tickets. We have seen the Cirque three times and they are a thrill a minute. Well produced and outstanding performers from all over the world. Fifty performers and over 125 permanent staff. There are twenty shows playing around the world. Seven of them in Las Vegas. There are two of the company’s playing arenas - three are permanent in Orlando, Tokyo and Macau. Seven units perform in the big circus tents they are famous for. The show in Vancouver is in a tent. It takes sixty buses and fifty trucks to move the show.

If you have never seen the Cirque du Soleil make plans to take this local performance in and enjoy the fun, mystique and the outstanding performers
who make for a enjoyable experience.

Because of the schedule of performances the members of the show eat in the traveling cafeteria. They are served three meals a day with their own chefs doing the preparing and I mean chefs. They also serve dishes for people from many countries. I looked at the list of food ordered for dinner at the Vancouver show. Forty pounds of bison meat, 15 pounds of venison, 40 pounds of Cornish hens, 79 pounds of salmon, 35 pounds of spot prawns, 25 pounds of Dungeness crabs plus all the fixings. Most of the staff and performers are on the circus site eight to ten hours a day. The meals are served in a cafeteria that folds up into two tractor-trailers when they hit the road to the next city.

It took eight days to set up the Vancouver show and it will take two days to take it down.
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The Okanagan cherry harvest was a little late this year but the quality of the fruit we have eaten has been superb. Just had a fill of cherries from Summerland today and the cherries were plump and delicious. I realize there has been some damage from earlier hailstorms and we won’t know the crop numbers until all have been picked but it should be a very productive crop.
The international sales of these crops, which are made over the next few weeks, should be considerable. I understand buyers from the Far East were scheduled to be here for talks on future sales this month.

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Does anyone in the restaurant business know how to make real ice tea? I’m getting so fed up with that stuff they are making from the tap in the bar. It is so sweet and has no taste other than sugar. You really have to go south to get the real taste of ice tea. I should mention lemonade as well because it comes from the same bar tap and is too sweet. No one makes real lemonade anymore. While I am on this rant let me ask another question, “Do you ever see butter pecan ice cream anymore or is that too old fashioned?” Those ice cream makers want us to eat ice cream with pretzels in it. Get serious.

With all the heat it brings back memories of the original Orange Crush floats we used to have using the Orange Crush pop from that special brown bottle. We haven’t been able to get it for years. Do you also remember Stubby soft drinks in an actual stubby shaped bottle? I liked the lemon-lime. Also Kik Kola - I think we paid five cents for a big bottle of the stuff. Last but not least Grape Nehi, had a real grape taste. Good stuff.

How about this one?

Do they still manufacture Calcimine paint or Beaver Board? I can remember as a young boy having to painting my grandmother's rocks around her garden and the driveway with Calcimine paint. When we first built what we then called a rumpus room, Dad used Beaver Board for the walls.

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Tip Top Tailors, Canada’s number one men’s specialty store, takes style to the next level and is now providing customers with Hi-Tech Fashion that actually helps save the planet. EcoGir®, the world's only tailored suit collection made from recycled plastic bottles, is now sold exclusively under the Belissimo label at TipTop Tailors. Not only is it eco-friendly, the business wardrobe is completely machine washable and tumble dry. The suit comes out of the dryer ready to wear to the office.

Belissimo continues to add the extra added value at Tip Top. The suits are also loaded with comfort features like SharpGir®, a permanent crease - wash after wash, which makes it nearly the perfect suit.

Tip Top Tailors, a Canadian retail clothing chain, selling primarily mens wear: suits, tuxedo rentals, casual wear, sportswear and outerwear as well, each store has an in-house tailor (provides tailoring for men and women). Founded in 1909, the company now holds over 100 stores in 9 Canadian provinces. Tip Top Tailors is regarded as one of the 50 best managed private companies in Canada. There is a store in Kelowna in Orchard Park.


More John Thomson articles

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About the Author

John Thomson is the Okanagan's pre-eminent business columnist writing his column, Rumours and Things, for over 24 years. Plugged in to the valley's who's who, John keeps his readers coming back for more with his straight talk and optimistic perspective on where we are headed next.

When John is not writing his column, he runs a sixteen year old think tank called the Executive Roundtable and holds his popular "Thomson Presents" quarterly business speaker seminars.

Have a comment, question, or tip for John? 

E-mail John at
[email protected]
or send him a fax at 250-764-8255.

 



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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