Hurrah! Will get to do some ushering this season at the Music Circus. Last night I saw The Little Mermaid, I think, the 3 Disney Animated feature taken from the ink pots & cinema to the stage, after The Lion King, and Beauty & the Beast. Now, who doesn't love a Disney musical? Sure as heck the b'jillion little girls, that trooped into the Music Circus last night all happily dressed in their princess & mermaid finery, certainly love musicals. Aww... the next widdle generation of theater goers.
Here, enjoy a little time under the sea for yourself.
Now, all of the above said - tonight was, for me, rather horrifying in moments. No, not the musical, that was great. But let me back up a bit here, to April. In April something expected, OK, not expected happened. You see, my vision has been crystal clear, sharp as tack since I had lasik surgery some 8 years ago. The wonder was, both my near and far vision were crystaline. That's unusual as normally one is given a choice by the surgerons, your vision can be corrected for near or far vision, you can't have both. But, I was the exception. Post surgery I could read the back of a jam jar right up against my nose, almost no distance between me and my reading matter too close. Lucky, lucky me.
Then, in April, something happened - out of the blue, my near vision went wonky. Disappeared. Fuzzed up. Quite a shock. Thought it was temporary, then thought I must have eye cancer or something. Finally I realized that %#&#% Father Time caught up with my corneas and well... now I need reading glasses.
That brings me back to last night's fiasco. Never occured to me to bring reading glasses with me to the theater - oh... glasses will be around my neck from now on, at every engagement. What happend Claire, freakn' Spit. It. Out!
Ok, ok, hold onto your ticket stub, I'm getting to it... I put a couple ladies in the wrong seat. They should have been in Row O, seats 19 & 20. I put them in Row Q. ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH! When a family of 6 showed up for their row Q, there, mid row, sat the mis-seated ladies. By then, the theater rows were pretty full up, so it was quite an unexpected production number getting the ladies out of the wrong seats and into their proper seats.
But Claire? Why the fuss? So what! They just got up, and moved down a few rows. Why the anguish on your part. Uh... well, let me explain that... you see... the lady's seeing-eye dog had fallen asleep and getting him and his blind mistress and companion back out the row and into their correct seats... well like I said - it was a production number. Nope. Will be carrying my granny reading glasses with me in future to every performance.
Hurrah! Mommy Nancy & I tried to get tickets for the Community Center Theatre's production of Wicked via the Lottery system last Satuday. Bombed. Standing there on line was like sort of a reverse Hunger Games scenario with the contestants feeling they would die if they did NOT get drawn. We didn't get drawn so went for a quick dinner then saw the v. excellent Best Exotic Marigold Hotel instead.
Pop forwardt to last night, Nancy got us tickets for Wicked! To top that, she told me my ticket was a pre-birthday present. Ooooo we loves the prezzies!
Loved the story of Wicked, which is the story of the witches of OZ, in particular, the pure and innocent one. Hey, hold on there Dorothy! No, the innocent was not Glinda, the so-called 'Good' witch, but Elphaba, known to us all as the Wicked Witch of the West. Once this version of the Oz tales is told, one will never watch Hollywood's The Wizard of Oz the same way again - and I mean, e-vah.
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I went into this play cold turkey, not even knowing the plot line - in fact, I had thought the story was about the Elphaba and her sister the Wicked Witch of the East, but that wasn't it exactly. telling the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West, who it turns out was not really wicked after all. She was a green-skinned, unloved daughter, and devoted caretaker of her crippled baby sister (the one that died when Dorothy Gale dropped a house on her). Loads of things about the Oz story were answered, all the way from the origins of the scarecrow, tin man and lion, to why she so desperately wanted the Ruby Slippers that Dorothy so famously took. Anyone who ever felt misunderstood has to love this musical.
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We're here! In the ensie tourist town of Keystone, South Dakota. The downtown area looks like something out of an episode of Gunsmoke - OK, an episode with a wider main street, but there is a nice wooden boardwalk. But never mind beautiful downtown Keystone, there is the very thing we traveled here to gawk at: Mt Rushmore National Monument!
We were there our first night in Keystone, but it was raining and foggy and we just got a distant look see - quite impressive, even under rainy conditions. The first two photos continues to amaze me. President Washington sports tear stained cheeks. What got the old guy down? Uh... well, actually, it just rained.
Can you find George?
Come on Georgie... can't be all that bad...
Really George, for an iPhone photo, it's not that bad!
That first evening we took a not-too-long drive to see another monument, an unofficial one, Crazy Horse. The following iPhone photo is kind of pathetic. It was raining and we didn't even properly enter the place. All we could see was the face of Crazy Horse atop his incomplete mustang mount.
Wondering what you were supposed to see here? Check out the next photo I got off the net
The background is the current state of the monument - only Crazy Horse's face is completed.
In the foreground is the statue as it will appear in some undisclosed day of the distant future.
The following morning , we trekked back, for a closer look at the national monument. It is so completely recognizable, it's seen everywhere in advertising and popular culture.
The monument itself has a great set-up. First you pay $10, which is good for parking at the monument, not just for a couple of hours, a day, or even a week - it's good for a full calendar year. Is that a bargain or what? Once parked you stroll down a long promenade.
Joann taking in the initial splendor of the Promenade
The Avenue of the Flags, features flags of all 50 states
The four fellows stood v. still for my shot here
At the end of the promenade, you find yourself facing a huge amphitheater, below you, and in the shadow of Rushmore. Every evening, a Park Ranger hosts the evening light up of Rushmore.
People lined up along the granite wall, just below which is the amphitheater
View of the Amphitheater below. If you look up, there's Rushmore!
Now, below that lofty view of Rushmore, to the side, are elevators that carry you down a level to the Mt. Rushmore exhibits.
The glass to the right overlooks the Amphitheater and a great
view of Rushmore. Above this level is the Avenue of the Flags
Mount Rushmore exhibits. Next door to this is a theater
with a showing on the construction of Rushmore's face
The exhibit explains how more than 90% of Rushmore was carved with dynamite!
And that last 10%...Well, talk about delicate work!
Alternate look for the mountain that was ultimately rejected in favor of the faces we all know and love.
My favorite carving is Teddy - I mean, there is no glass used,
but, still, you can see his spectacles - Bully!
For the afternoon, Joann went back to our hotel for some alone time, and I took off on an unfocused tour of the countryside. My conclusion... it is no wonder at all, why the Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota & Cheyenne tribes. The drive I took wound over hill, over dale ultimately ending up at the Custer State Park.
Loads of stunning outcroppings dotted the scenery
The rock formations in the Black Hills often look fairly deliberate, if not a little naughty.
I was blown away by this incredible, one-of-a-kind log bridge, I got to drive both under and over!
Will not be forgetting this little bridge any time soon.
A little memorial highway marker, with stones, probably as old as Rushmore
Something that seems to me now to say, "Black Hills" is the numerous tunnels, bored through solid rock.
For some reason the tunnels are all squared off.
Here is yet another tunnel, and I take you for a quick ride through it.
Lovely grassy meadows in the vicinity of Custer State Park
The cutiest little South Dakota ranch
What a beautiful area is the Black Hills, and I only saw a teensy bit
of it. Was terrifically impressed and hope to return and explore the
area further in the future.
Last, but not least, I thought I should share this example of how Mount Rushmore has permeated the National consciousness. HIT IT BOYS!
