We were walking through the Cow Palace the other day -- that giant warehouse-ish building, way south of the Mission, where they have rodeos and exhibitions and stuff -- when who should walk past us but a tall man with an ivy wreath on his head, luxuriant flowing white hair, and majestic robes. He was holding by the arm a small, whimpering man in a dressing gown, and he was saying something like, "look, Ebeneezer, at all these holiday revelers," or whatever.

It was a surreal moment in a surreal place: for the next few days, the Cow Palace has been transformed into a (slightly Disneyfied) 19th century London, complete with moody lighting, creaky buildings, top hats, ruffles, hook skirts, meat pies, and lots of accents reminiscant of Dick Van Dyke in . We went hoping that it would be like that episode where Geordi and Data recreate a Sherlock Holmes environment on the Holodeck, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't really disappoint; it really felt like being transported to, if not a Holodeck, then at least a very well-put-together TV show set.

Mary Poppins