The Mask at Warner Bros. Studios

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

  We have a copy of The Mask on DVD that we got for free inside a box of cereal.  The movie was also a box office success and starred Jim Carrey as Stanley Ipkiss.  When Stanley finds a special mask he puts it on and is transformed into... well, into Jim Carrey doing his stand-up routine.

  When we visited Warner Bros. Studios, we were lucky to see some of the filming locations from this movie.  The first location is found on Hennessy Street of the backlot.  Stanley lives in the apartment pictured above.  It is the building with Hardware written on it and fire-escapes on the front.  When Stanley first puts on the mask he becomes a green faced cartoon-like character.  He ends up bouncing down a hallway and out the window of this building.  He is flattened when he hits the ground below.  A car honks at him for being in the street.  Stanley pulls out a tiny little horn which lets out one giant-sized windshield shattering " Bahooogahh!"

  Later in the film Stanley is once again wearing the mask.  This time he finds himself face to face with a street filled with police.  The building above played the neon lit Warwick Hotel.

  When faced with this predicament, The Mask breaks into song and the police are surprised to find themselves losing control and dancing along.  The song he sings is Cuban Pete.  This song was previously made famous by Desi Arnaz of I Love Lucy fame.  All of the action takes place just beyond the dumpster you see in the middle of the road above.

  At one point The Mask leaps into the air and slides down a light pole beside this theatre (right hand side of the photo above).  The dance sequence continues and finishes with a conga line before The Mask sneaks off once again.  Our golf cart also snuck off once again as we continued our tour of the studio.

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See more locations from the Warner Bros. Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
New York Street , Stanley Ipkiss Apartment

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Post # 191

Roll On, Roll On Saskatchewan

Location: Whitewood, Saskatchewan, Canada
Address: Saskota Flyway
Date: October 2014
Website: http://www.tourismsaskatchewan.com

  When we told people we were going to drive from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Regina, Saskatchewan they all seemed to have the same response.  "That will be a boring drive".  After driving to Regina and back, we disagree with that statement.

  Saskatchewan has a reputation for being flat.  While most of the province is quite flat, the Cypress Hills in the south west are higher than any point in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI or Ontario.  The photo above is a camera trick to make things look a little more "hilly".

  Being flat makes everything else stand out.  We saw a certain beauty in the way the fields went on forever until a tree or a barn or a silo stood out against the horizon.

  We saw lots of barns and silos.

And more silos.

And more barns.

  There was something beautiful about the colour of the fields and the colour of the sky.  Whenever there was water in a field beside the roadway it was a bright blue as it reflected the sky above.

  In some spots it looked as if there was too much water and perhaps there had been some flooding.  We are not grain growing experts so possibly this was some farming technique?

  Another farming technique that may be shocking to some travellers is the burning of straw.  It is not uncommon for farmers to burn extra straw in their fields after harvest.  This fire above looked pretty intense, but we trusted that they knew what they were doing.

  Another fire of sorts that we encountered was the setting of the sun as we drove westward towards Regina.  The sunset seemed to last for hours and the whole sky changed different shades of yellow, orange and red as the sun sunk ever so slowly beneath the horizon.

  The next morning we were treated to a sunrise that turned the sky shades of pink and purple.

  Some of the tallest things you will see as you drive across Saskatchewan are the grain elevators.  Almost ever town still has one whether it is in use or not.

  We also noticed this tall tower.  It looked to us that at the top it may have a sprinkler system that sprayed over the crops.  Other possible uses for this tower might be to watch over the crops for pesky birds or to look westward and catch a glimpse of the Rockies.

  Another thing we were not used to seeing is huge farming equipment working the fields.

  Even more shocking was huge farming equipment coming towards us on the Trans-Canada Highway..

  We drove our return trip to Winnipeg past rolls of golden hay.  As we drove, we thought to ourselves that even though Saskatchewan may be flat, the experience really stands out.

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Map of Our World
Saskatchewan

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Post # 190

Rock On Rock Retires

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 100 Princes' Blvd.
Date: September 2017
Website: www.rockonrock.ca

  One of the highlights of the Canadian National Exhibition for the past 18 years has been the amazing skill of Darryl Maddeaux.  Somehow he manages to take rocks of varying sizes and shapes and form them into the towers you see above.

  He performs in front of large crowds during the C.N.E.  He selects a rock, feels its weight and lifts it to the top of one of the towers.  He holds it in place making minor adjustments until he is satisfied with his placement.  He pulls his hands away and the rock balances there defying gravity.

  The towers of rock, sometimes as high as 10 rocks, can stay standing for hours.  We have watched Darryl many times through the years and we have never once seen a rock fall.  Sadly, this year he has chosen to retire.  We will miss his magic.

  We chatted with Darryl and he told us a story. He said that when he was young he played guitar and put out an album of music. Shortly after that he put out a second album of music. He said he then attended a concert featuring four young men with mop top haircuts from England. After seeing The Beatles he declared, "This is what I want to do. I want to be a rock star." He turned and pointed to the perfectly balanced rocks behind him and stated. "I just wasn't specific enough."

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Map of Our World
Direct Energy Centre

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Post # 189