A Weekend of Harry Potter (double) and H.M.S. Pinafore

My weekend was full of fun! I had taken off Friday, the 15th of July, in order to view a few apartments (apartment hunting is horrendous, and a story for another day) and to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with Marisa and Theresa. Fun, fun, fun! The movie was awesome! However, as a reader of the books, it was hard to watch for entertainment’s sake. I’ve found that when I’ve read the book of a movie I’m watching, I have to see the movie more than once because I spend the whole time of my first viewing comparing the book and the movie, and this time was no exception. I spent this viewing wondering why they did this and that, which is frustrating for me, so I have to see it again. I left the movie with this “whoa” feeling, like I couldn’t process the whole thing and that it was over. It was a similar feeling when I finished the 7th book too.

After the movie, Marisa, Theresa, and I went to dinner at Famous Dave’s…yum, yum, yum! I had the open-faced Georgia chopped pork with fries, broccoli, corn on the cob, and a cornbread muffin. Well, I had part of that! I took half of it home and had lunch the next day. We sat and talked for a couple of hours, and then went to head out. We ended up taking Theresa’s car and heading over to look at an apartment I was interested in that I had viewed that morning, and made plans to go and re-view the place for Monday.

Saturday was much the same as I usually have, except that I had to get up early for a chiropractor’s appointment because I had missed my regularly scheduled appointment during the week (due to apartment hunting). After that, I went home and cleaned up the kitchen and living room, and then read for a while. That evening, I went to Marisa’s for a BBQ and movie. While I was there, I had been texting with another friend, Caytie, and we discussed seeing Harry Potter the next day with her girls.

I met Caytie (and company) at the Rogers’ theater where I got the shock of my life…movie tickets were $5 for a matinee! Cheap!!!! Gotta love that! After purchasing goodies (which were also not horribly expensive, and all large sizes included refills), we headed into the theater. The screen was huge, which was pretty cool. I definitely enjoyed the movie the second time as well, and I felt a little less “whoa” about the whole thing. Afterward, we got an ice cream at DQ, and talked for a while until I had to leave for Angela’s, a friend who had recently moved from St. Cloud to Wayzata.






I met up with Angela and got to see her new apartment, and then we headed off to Minneapolis to the Guthrie Theatre. Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore was AWESOME! I loved it! It is a funny, romantic musical with sailors…what’s not to love? The music was great, and there was a very cool tap number where the sailors go to town. The set was the bow of a ship, with the orchestra up in the bridge, with a platform above and in front of it. At the back of the bow of the ship, under the bridge, was a revolving wall that changed the set from deck to boiler room to captain’s office to the boat that the sisters, cousins, and aunts of the Admiral come in on. If you are interested in seeing a clip, there is a video that is only about 3 ½ minutes long. Here.


The day I went was incredibly humid! It was so humid, in fact, that it looked foggy outside! When Angela and I tried to get a picture outside at the intermission at 8 o’clock at night, the camera lens fogged from the humidity! It was crazy!

Arsenic and Old Lace at the Guthrie Theatre

For Mom’s Mother’s Day gift, I had purchased tickets to the final performance of Arsenic and Old Lace playing on the Wurtle Thrust stage at the Guthrie (the “round” stage). I hadn’t been to the new theatre; and I had only been to the old theatre once in high school when I saw As You Like It, also on the round stage. The building is extremely blue, so it isn’t hard to find! It was also cool, because you can see people in the blue walls on the outside (and on the walls and ceilings inside as well). We parked in the structure directly across from the Guthrie, which, crazily enough, only took cash and check, and walked across the street to go into the building. On the way, we noticed that runners were coming in from finishing Minneapolis’s Marathon! Kinda cool!

We were about 45 minutes early, so had time to wander around. Our first stop was the bathrooms, which were up the escalator. This was NOT your ordinary escalator, but one that was a single long escalator that rose four stories! (You can see mom’s and my reflection in the picture of us going up the escalator.) We got to the top, and went to the restrooms, and then wandered around. I took a few pictures from inside the building looking out at the river when we noticed an outside area that people were standing on that was facing the Mississippi River, so we headed over to go outside and get a better view of the river area.

It was beautiful outside, and the various bridges over the river were pretty cool to look at. The Guthrie is right at the St. Anthony Falls. One thing that I never knew is that Pillsbury and Gold Medal Flour were directly across the river from each other! Very cool old buildings are in that area, and many of them are being revitalized. It was beautiful outside, and we hung out for about 15 minutes, and then headed back inside to enter the theatre.

The set for the play was absolutely awesome! It was a two-story interior of an old Victorian house, with the audience viewing the entry/sitting/dining room, with views of a door to the kitchen and a door to the basement, and then stairs up to a balcony with a bedroom door and hallway to another bedroom. On either side of the “house” were views of the cemetery outside. The picture is very dark (no flash), so you can’t see it very well, but it was the best set I’ve ever seen!

The play itself was so well done! The actors were fabulous, and the Brewster sisters were absolutely awesome! I know I laughed more at this play than I ever did at the Cary Grant movie! It was totally worth the money!

“The play is a farcical black comedy [written by Joseph Kesselring], revolving
around Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic who must deal with his crazy, homicidal
family and local police in Brooklyn, NY, as he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves. His family includes two spinster aunts who have taken to murdering lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pinch" of cyanide; a brother who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and digs locks for the Panama Canal in the cellar of the Brewster home (which then serve as graves for the aunts' victims); and a murderous brother who has received plastic surgery performed by an alcoholic accomplice, Dr. Einstein (a character based on real-life gangland surgeon Joseph Moran) to conceal his identity and now looks like horror-film actor Boris Karloff (a self-referential joke, as the part was originally played by Karloff). The film adaptation follows the same basic plot, with a few minor changes.”

After the play, mom and I took some outside pictures of the building, and walked around back, and what did we find? The outside seating area where we had taken our pictures upstairs was a giant “arm” off of the building! Way crazy! We both said that we were glad we didn’t know while we were standing out there!

After we walked around outside for a little while, we headed back towards St. Cloud. We ended up deciding not to eat in the Cities as it was only about 4pm, and neither of us were too terribly hungry. We stopped in Maple Grove, and ate at California Pizza Kitchen…yummy Portobello Mushroom Ravioli in a garlic cream sauce!

The Man from Snowy River

The Man from Snowy River movie from the 1980s was based on a poem. I remember watching the movie as a girl and LOVING it!! The poem was written by an Australian poet, solicitor (attorney), journalist, war correspondent, and soldier born in 1864 in New South Wales. At the age of 7, Banjo moved to the Yass District along the main route between Sydney and Melbourne near the Snowy Mountains. He spent his childhood in the bush and loving everything to do with horses and the Snowy Mountains.

Geography Information: The Snowy Mountains are in New South Wales, Australia; running through the mountains and into Victoria is the Snowy River.


THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER by A.B. (Andrew Barton) "Banjo" Paterson

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around
That the colt from old Regret had got away,
And had joined the wild bush horses - he was worth a thousand pound,
So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.
All the tried and noted riders from the stations near and far
Had mustered at the homestead overnight,
For the bushmen love hard riding where the wild bush horses are,
And the stockhorse snuffs the battle with delight.

There was Harrison, who made his pile when Pardon won the cup,
The old man with his hair as white as snow;
But few could ride beside him when his blood was fairly up -
He would go wherever horse and man could go.
And Clancy of the Overflow came down to lend a hand,
No better horseman ever held the reins;
For never horse could throw him while the saddle girths would stand,
He learnt to ride while droving on the plains.

And one was there, a stripling on a small and weedy beast,
He was something like a racehorse undersized,
With a touch of Timor pony - three parts thoroughbred at least -
And such as are by mountain horsemen prized.
He was hard and tough and wiry - just the sort that won't say die -
There was courage in his quick impatient tread;
And he bore the badge of gameness in his bright and fiery eye,
And the proud and lofty carriage of his head.

But still so slight and weedy, one would doubt his power to stay,
And the old man said, "That horse will never do
For a long a tiring gallop - lad, you'd better stop away,
Those hills are far too rough for such as you."
So he waited sad and wistful - only Clancy stood his friend -
"I think we ought to let him come," he said;
"I warrant he'll be with us when he's wanted at the end,
For both his horse and he are mountain bred.

"He hails from Snowy River, up by Kosciusko's side,
Where the hills are twice as steep and twice as rough,
Where a horse's hoofs strike firelight from the flint stones every stride,
The man that holds his own is good enough.
And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home,
Where the river runs those giant hills between;
I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam,
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen."

So he went - they found the horses by the big mimosa clump -
They raced away towards the mountain's brow,
And the old man gave his orders, "Boys, go at them from the jump,
No use to try for fancy riding now.
And, Clancy, you must wheel them, try and wheel them to the right.
Ride boldly, lad, and never fear the spills,
For never yet was rider that could keep the mob in sight,
If once they gain the shelter of those hills."

So Clancy rode to wheel them - he was racing on the wing
Where the best and boldest riders take their place,
And he raced his stockhorse past them, and he made the ranges ring
With the stockwhip, as he met them face to face.
Then they halted for a moment, while he swung the dreaded lash,
But they saw their well-loved mountain full in view,
And they charged beneath the stockwhip with a sharp and sudden dash,
And off into the mountain scrub they flew.

Then fast the horsemen followed, where the gorges deep and black
Resounded to the thunder of their tread,
And the stockwhips woke the echoes, and they fiercely answered back
From cliffs and crags that beetled overhead.
And upward, ever upward, the wild horses held their way,
Where mountain ash and kurrajong grew wide;
And the old man muttered fiercely, "We may bid the mob good day,
No man can hold them down the other side."

When they reached the mountain's summit, even Clancy took a pull,
It well might make the boldest hold their breath,
The wild hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was full
Of wombat holes, and any slip was death.
But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head,
And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer,
And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed,
While the others stood and watched in very fear.

He sent the flint stones flying, but the pony kept his feet,
He cleared the fallen timber in his stride,
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat -
It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride.
Through the stringybarks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground,
Down the hillside at a racing pace he went;
And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound,
At the bottom of that terrible descent.

He was right among the horses as they climbed the further hill,
And the watchers on the mountain standing mute,
Saw him ply the stockwhip fiercely, he was right among them still,
As he raced across the clearing in pursuit.
Then they lost him for a moment, where two mountain gullies met
In the ranges, but a final glimpse reveals
On a dim and distant hillside the wild horses racing yet,
With the man from Snowy River at their heels.

And he ran them single-handed till their sides were white with foam.
He followed like a bloodhound on their track,
Till they halted cowed and beaten, then he turned their heads for home,
And alone and unassisted brought them back.
But his hardy mountain pony he could scarcely raise a trot,
He was blood from hip to shoulder from the spur;
But his pluck was still undaunted, and his courage fiery hot,
For never yet was mountain horse a cur.

And down by Kosciusko, where the pine-clad ridges raise
Their torn and rugged battlements on high,
Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze
At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,
And where around The Overflow the reed beds sweep and sway
To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,
The man from Snowy River is a household word today,
And the stockmen tell the story of his ride.

The Bulletin, 26 April 1890.

Snowy Mountains and Snowy River National Park

Caytie and I woke up with the birds (about 5am) and dozed in and out until 6am. We hit Centennial Park first thing to see The Man from Snowy River statue. (See here regarding this subject.) The statue was smaller that we both expected, but it was still cool to see! The park also had mosaic-like pictures on walls at the entrance to the park that depicted the High Country’s settlement – from first peoples to gold to farming, etc. Some of them were really beautiful!

From Cooma, we drove to Jindabyne (situated around a huge lake high in the mountains) and then on to Thredbo. On the road between Jindabyne and Thredbo, we came across an emu!! Including the kangaroos (and joeys) in the Blue Mountains, this emu was one of the native Australian animals Caytie and I had on our “list” to see in the wild! We were driving along a two-lane road that was twisty and somewhat high up in the mountains, so we didn’t slam on the breaks to catch a picture (although we got him and one other on the way back).
In Thredbo, Caytie and I had originally anticipated going to the top of Mt. Kosciuszko (the highest mountain in AU). However, it cost our car $16 to drive into Thredbo as the town is inside a National Park. The cost to ride the chairlift ended up being $32 each, so we skipped it and, instead, took a beautiful walk along the Thredbo River, next to the highest golf course in Australia! There was some snow left at the top of the mountain, but very little! It was somewhat chilly, so we did end up having to wear jeans and sweatshirts, but it was sunny and beautiful out! After our little hike/walk, we headed back towards Jindabyne to have lunch. (I think because it wasn’t quite into summer yet, Thredbo was pretty sleepy.)

We stopped at an Information Center in Jindabyne, and picked up some brochures and got directions (screwy ones if you ask me!) to a local burger place. Burger It! was AWESOME!!! I didn’t get a burger, but a chicken sandwich called The Big Kahuna and it was soooo good…chicken, cheese, Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, pineapple, rasher bacon, lettuce, and tomato, with fries (and they actually called them fries, although ketchup was “tomato sauce”). Caytie and I sat outside at a table and enjoyed the fresh, crisp air and ate lunch. I went inside to get a box for my leftovers, and spoke with the owner, Andrew, for a while. We were discussing where we were going and how long we were here and the like. I wasn’t completely sure which way we were driving the next day down to Buchan Caves Reserve, but I knew it was a “back” way. Andrew thought it might be the Barry Way, as that was where the Snowy Wilderness (our horseback riding and campout place) was. He looked a little apprehensive when we discussed it, and asked what kind of car we were driving. He said that he had driven the Barry Way once, and it was a “dodgy road.” He said it was a two-way, almost two-lane dirt road, but that if we were very careful, we should be fine. I was a little worried. Andrew also told me that his mom owns a place similar to his place down along the Great Ocean Road called the Koala Cafe. He gave me directions and his mom’s name, and I told him we’d stop by for breakfast and say hi to his mom!

After we were done with lunch and chatting with Andrew, we headed out along the Barry Way to Snowy Wilderness, a “dude” ranch with horseback riding, 4-wheeling, camping, etc. We were going out there for a 2-hour horseback ride and to camp overnight under the stars. It took quite a while to get out there. The Barry Way (at least as far as Snowy Wilderness) was an easy drive. It was beautiful! The landscape totally reminded me of the movie, The Man from Snowy River, which was pretty cool! It was really neat because there were wide-open grasslands and then all over the place were rock outcroppings with trees (and sheep). Any-who, we got to the Snowy Wilderness gate and the directions we had received from the owners said that we needed to make sure the gate was closed behind us because there are free-ranging animals that need to be kept in. Boy were there ever!!! As we drove down the extremely long driveway (don’t know if it was that long, but it took forever to drive because it was filled with ruts from rains). As we drive along and got farther down the mountain, we came across horses everywhere and got so excited I was snapping pictures like crazy!

We got down to the “office” (an old watershed/barn) and got signed up and paid up with one of the owners, Bill (?). We followed him down to our campsite (just down the hill from the watershed), and got situated down there. We slept under an A-frame, tin-roofed building with no walls on a metal spring bed. We rented Aussie Swags and sleeping bags to sleep in, and Bill (?) told us he’d have AJ, our trail guide, light our fire after the ride. Aussie Swags…best invention ever!! They’re like your own personal tent, but without room for stuff. They are made out of canvas with a thick pad on the bottom and are big enough for you to slip your sleeping bag into it. The top zips up and over your head with netting at the opening. You’re supposed to string/hang them up above you, but we didn’t do that. (Our Aussie Swags were dropped off for us while we were on our horseback ride.)

Well, we headed up to the watershed about an hour later in order to get boots and helmets picked out. (Pic to right is view from watershed to our A-frame campsite.) We were also told that a couple who were staying there for the week were coming back from a 3-day 4-wheeling trip and wanted to join the horseback ride, so we’d be a little late getting started. We didn’t care, so we hung out at the watershed for a while waiting for Lisa and Tim to arrive (they were on vacation from Brisbane) and waiting for AJ to catch the horses we’d be riding for the day!

I rode Duke and Caytie rode Sienna (a male horse). The ride was awesome, but very different from horseback rides I’ve taken here in the states! First of all, the do not use a western saddle (of course), but an Australian saddle. There is no horn to hold on to. There is, however, a pommel swell that I was able to grab onto whenever we took a little run. Second, these horses are not neck reigned (meaning, they do not turn based on the gentle laying of the reigns.) Instead, we actually direct the horse where we want them to go…especially because they really don’t follow the horse in front of them that well!! Third, AJ (the guide was awesome, but I use the term “guide” fairly loosely) was only in front of the group (albeit there were only 4 of us) for about 20 minutes of the 2-hour ride! He’d point and say take that direction and we’d lead the horses along the “trail” in the direction he pointed.

The ride itself was beautiful! As we headed out, we went into the woods and climbed a huge hill. We stopped at the top to take in the views and to let the horses rest from their climb. The top was a beautiful meadow where about 20 other horses were wandering around. I realized that my camera’s batteries were dead and I hadn’t brought along any extras, so I got very few pictures on the ride!!! Poor me :(

Here’s where it got really interesting! Our horses didn’t really want to go trail riding anymore…they wanted to play with the other horses. So, against our wishes, our horses ran (which I was so not ready for) over to greet their friends!! I held on for dear life to the pommel swell and tried my best to stay on Duke! Soon, the four of us (AJ was able to control his horse, of course) were surrounded by about 20 horses! It was pretty cool! We discussed the horses’ pecking order, and how Shelly (Lisa’s horse) was the top “dog.” Duke got a little too close to Shelly for her comfort, and she gave a little kick…and caught my left foot and stirrup! It HURT, but nothing was broken. We had a little trouble getting our horses back on the road (Tim had the most trouble), but we were off again!

We came across kangaroos on the ride, and I attempted to get pictures, but I was only able to get one shot off due to battery shortage. :( About halfway through the ride, we did a Jim Craig!!! There was this hugely steep hill (it doesn’t look as bad in the pic), and we went down it. Granted we didn’t run like in the movie, but I couldn’t help but think how crazy Jim Craig was! The horses did switchbacks in order to go down the hill! Towards the end of the ride, we came across a lazy river where the horses pretty much jumped in to cool off and take a drink. It was kinda funny, because the horses used their hooves to kick up the water in order to cool off their bellies!
Not far from “home,” we finally came across the one thing that both Caytie and I were hoping to see…brumbies!! For those of you who don’t know the term or haven’t seen the movie, a brumby is a wild horse that roams free. We came across a newly-made family—stallion, mare, and foal (bott left hidden by bush). AJ said that we couldn’t ride any closer because the stallion would most defiantly charge us! It was AWESOME! About 5 minutes after this, we got close enough for the horses to know they were almost done with lugging us all around, and they all broke out into a full-out run! This time, I was ready and did a great job (if I do say so myself) of going with the flow of the horse! Poor Lisa (on that mean old Shelly) got thrown off! Her tailbone was sore and they were driving back to Brisbane the next day!
We dismounted and headed into the watershed to get off the boots and back into the regular shoes. Let me tell you, that was not fun at all!!! I limped my way down the hill to the campsite and AJ built us a fire. I sat in front of the fire for a bit and wrote out my journal entry for the day, but then I ended up in bed with my leg on my suitcase for the night! It was still bright light out (about 7pm) when I went to bed. It was a good thing too, because Caytie and I were up early with the birds! The sun was still rising when we headed out for the day to take on the “Dodgy Road.”

Jen's List of Movie Trilogies

Every New Year's Eve my friend and I watch some kind of trilogy, but we cannot think of a set we haven't watched (at least not one that we haven't seen at least part of recently), and in searching online, I found it very interesting that it was so difficult to find a list of movies that are trilogies. After about 10 minutes of searching, I finally found something on Wikipedia, but it took too much searching...so, here's my list (in no particular order) of trilogies I've seen:

1. Lord of the Rings
   The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
   The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
   The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
2. Back to the Future
   Back to the Future (1985)
   Back to the Future Part II (1989)
   Back to the Future Part III (1990)
3. The Matrix
   The Matrix (1999)
   The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
   The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
4. The Bourne Trilogy
   The Bourne Identity (2002)
   The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
   The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
5. Jurassic Park
   Jurassic Park (1993)
   The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
   Jurassic Park III (2001)
6. The Mummy
   The Mummy (1999)
   The Mummy Returns (2001)
   The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
7. Blade
   Blade (1998)
   Blade II (2002)
   Blade Trinity (2004)
8. Ocean's Trilogy
   Ocean's Eleven (2001)
   Ocean's Twelve (2004)
   Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
9. Pirates of the Caribbean
   Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
   Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
   Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
10. The Mighty Ducks
    The Mighty Ducks (1992)
    D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
    D3: The Mighty Ducks (1996)
11. Mission: Impossible
    Mission: Impossible (1996)
    M:I-2 (2000)
    M:I-III (2006)
12. Beverly Hills Cop
    Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
    Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
    Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
13. Resident Evil
    Resident Evil (2002)
    Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
    Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
14. Crocodile Dundee
    Crocodile Dundee (1986)
    Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
    Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001)
15. Rush Hour
    Rush Hour (1998)
    Rush Hour 2 (2001)
    Rush Hour 3 (2007)
16. The Santa Clause
    The Santa Clause (1994)
    The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
    The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006)
17. Scream
    Scream (1996)
    Scream 2 (1997)
    Scream 3 (2000)
18. Spy Kids
    Spy Kids (2001)
    Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
    Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
19. Final Destination
    Final Destination (2000)
    Final Destination 2 (2003)
    Final Destination 3 (2006)

Alright, I think I've seen too many movies, because these are just ones that are trilogies!!