United States: "Everything This Year Is More Beautiful"

Ms. Mary Rudge is a poet. She said that while she primarily writes poetry, she also writes for several newspapers. She mentioned that she and some of her friends had attended the Spectacular last year.

When she was asked about her impression of this year's show, she commented, "We came back this year and brought even more friends. Everything this year is more beautiful - the special effects, the content, the inspiration."

Ms. Rudge mentioned that she had just been interviewed by the newspaper. "I said I'm the 'poet laureate' of the city of Alameda." She explained that when the city describes something in their culture, they often say "how poetic!" She continued to say, "And we think this is very poetic, very beautiful. So we're very glad we came and we'll be back next year."

When she was asked about Chinese culture, she explained, "I've been to mainland China about five times. We were guests of the government two years ago, because they wanted to invite writers to see how people would react to all the new buildings and museums that they were building for the Olympics. So we were kind of 'test subjects' to see how we would respond to all the new buildings, but they have a long way to go with human rights and freedom."