Hat-Making in Manila

I'm starting a new project. I'm building a model Venetian theater complete with Carnevale actors in costume. 1:12 scale. Well, not exactly. The actors may be 1:12, about 6 inches tall, but if I made the theater to real scale the stage would end up being about 7 feet wide. Instead, it will likely be about a little larger than roombox size, about 2 1/2 feet wide, deep and tall.

I don't really know how to do all this, but figuring it out should keep me off the streets for awhile. There are two of us in this house with a passion for miniatures - one with 1:12 scale and the other with HO scale model trains. It may be a race to see whose eyesight goes first.

 My friends and I who have seen the movie Julie and Julia are laughing over the scene where Julia Child as the "trailing spouse" of her diplomat husband in Paris is advised by some well-meaning soul to take up hat-making to keep her busy, to give her something "to do". The expression "hat-making" has entered our vocabularies as a shorthand joke, laughing at some activity or another.

The truth is, however, that there is SO much creativity among my friends. Some of them are photographers putting on exhibitions of their work, some are making jewellery, some writing and publishing articles, designing fashion, painting, taking dance classes, making music. They are traveling, studying history, exploring contemporary art, producing events...did I mention playing mah jong??? Lots of time for the creative life. Hat-Making. And look what happened to Julia when she finally settled on cooking for her creative outlet!

Speaking of hats, last week was the Melbourne Cup in Australia, a VERY important horse race in that country. Here in Manila the ANZA group (Australian-New Zealand Association) put on a great event at the Peninsula. This is the third year I've attended and it's a blast. Everyone gets all dressed up and wears fancy hats (I've worn a hat three times in my life - there), bets on the horses and watches the race live on a huge screen via satellite. Followed by a great lunch, lots of fun and laughter. We start drinking champagne at 11:00 in the morning which is definitely trouble, no doubt about it. The Aussies sure do great party.

The theater pictured was created by artist Arline Smith.