Statue of Liberty (In The Movies)

Location: New York, New York, USA
Address: Liberty Island
Date: Jan 2009
Website:  www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm

  The Statue of Liberty has been seen in numerous movies.  Nothing does a better job of letting you know that you are on American soil than a few shots of Lady Liberty standing watch over New York.  Most movies don't actually make the trip to Liberty Island and instead use special effects.  Here are a few of the movies we have seen that feature the statue, courtesy of some movie magic.

National Lampoon's European Vacation
  When we first started thinking about movies that featured the Statue of Liberty, we recalled a movie in which a plane crashes into her torch and causes it to swing in her hand.  We figured it out.  As the Griswold family returns from Europe, Clark (Chevy Chase) accidentally enters the cockpit instead of the washroom.  He then bumps into the pilot and causes the plane to dive.  Oops!

Planet of the Apes
  George Taylor finally escapes those "damn, dirty apes".  He sees the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand on a beach.  It is then that he realizes he is still on planet earth.

 Spaceballs 
  Mega Maid is a vacuuming spaceship that bears a striking resemblance to the Statue of Liberty.  This resemblance is further emphasized by a Planet of the Apes parody.  When she crashes into a beach the whole thing is witnessed by a couple of apes on horseback.  "There goes the planet."

Ghostbusters II
  If you visit the Statue of Liberty and wish to go inside the pedestal or up into the crown, you must book your tickets well in advance.  Ray, Egon, Peter and Winston manage to not only make a last minute trip up to the crown, but do so in the middle of the night.  Using some of their slime they bring the statue to life and she wades across the Hudson River and into the streets of Manhattan.

Superman IV
  Superman IV isn't the best Superman movie (actually it's the fourth best), but it does feature the Statue of Liberty.  The villain, Nuclear Man, takes the statue and flies her through the streets of Manhattan and then hurls her towards the ground.  Superman swoops in and saves the day and she is safely returned to her pedestal.  For his efforts, Superman gets to leave Liberty Island courtesy of the business end of a boot.

Judge Dredd
  I am the law!  Sylvester Stalone (Judge Dredd) spends a little time hanging from a hole in the side of the statue's head.  In this futuristic tale the Statue of Liberty has been moved to the middle of a Mega City and hides a secret laboratory.

X-Men
  The X-Men have a battle that starts in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.  Magneto is going to create radiation in the statue's torch which will mutate all the world leaders meeting on nearby Ellis Island.  Besides making a mess of the museum in the pedestal, the X-Men damage the statue's head and Wolverine's claws leave a few permanent scratches.

Men in Black II
  In the Men in Black movies, a neuralyser is a stick which produces a bright light and can wipe the memory of anyone who looks at it. After defeating the evil Serleena in an explosive fashion, Agent K ( Tommy Lee Jones) uses the Statue of Liberty as a giant neuralyser to wipe the memory of all of New York.  We don't recall if we have seen this movie.

The Statue of Liberty has also seen her share of movie disasters.  She has been hit by tsunamis in both Deep Impact and The Day After Tomorrow, and an alien attack in Independence Day.  Despite all the abuse she has seen in the movies, the Statue of Liberty has been standing since 1886.  Thank goodness it was all just special effects.

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Map of Our World
Statue of Liberty (In The Movies)

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Post # 38

World's Oldest Wombat

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Road
Date: Feb 2015
Website:  www.torontozoo.com

  Hamlet, the southern hairy-nosed wombat, turned 33 on February 1, 2015.  We visited the Toronto Zoo to wish him a happy birthday and to congratulate him on being the oldest wombat in the world.  On September 1, 2016 he will become the oldest wombat in history.
 

   Hamlet is still quite active and can often be seen roaming around his enclosure.  He is a little worse for wear, as he had to have one eye removed and he often requires his food to be microwaved in order to soften it up for chewing.  His right eye always appears closed which makes him easy to differentiate from the other two wombats at the zoo.  If you can, we recommend that you come and visit him in the Australasia Pavilion.  If not, you can always enjoy the video of him below.  We wish you all the best Hamlet!

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Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Australasia Pavilion)

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Post # 37

Chocolate FX

Location: Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada
Address: 335 Four Mile Creek Road
Date: Jan 2015
Website:  www.chocolatefx.ca

  While we were visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake, we decided we could use a little chocolate to go with our wine.  Chocolate F/X offers tours of their factory to see the chocolate making process in action.  During the tour we were shown a cocoa pod which looks kind of like a football.  Inside rattling around you could hear the cocoa beans.  Our tour guide told us that the dark chocolate comes from the beans and white chocolate comes from the oils.
  On the other side of a big window was the factory.  A worker was there wearing ear protection, a hair net and a beard net.  We guess technically he was wearing two hair nets.  The guide told us that whatever is being covered in chocolate is put into one of the giant metal drums and then chocolate is repeatedly coated over it.  Sometimes it takes the whole day to get just the right thickness of coating.  Once the product is ready it is taken out of the drum and the whole drum is cleaned by hand to get ready for the next batch.  There were some hair dryers which they use to help melt the chocolate off the walls during cleaning.
  We were told that when the product emerges it is usually bumpy from bouncing around in the drum.  They then cover it in corn syrup to make it smooth and round like the public expects.  We say no need for the syrup.  Chocolate is chocolate.  Bumpy would be fine with us.

  In the hallway where the tour takes place there were two pictures.  The bottom picture was of a messy child covered in chocolate.  This picture also appears on some of the packaging so we assume it is someone associated with the business.  The other picture was of a monkey in a thorn bush so concerned with cleanliness that he was using one of the thorns to pick his teeth.  We purchased a few tubs of chocolate and using a voucher from our hotel we were also treated to a chocolate dipped strawberry after the tour.  We managed to keep the chocolate off our hands and faces and get it into our mouths where it belongs.

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Map of Our World
Chocolate FX

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Post # 36