Monthly Archives: May 2010

‘South Pacific’ Sails into the Civic Center with a Bang!

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South Pacific has hit the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines and will continue to please crowds now through Sunday, May 23. Last night was the opening night for the show and the theatre was packed full of excited fans ready to be immersed in the magic of Bali Ha’i and the antics of the islanders, Seabee’s and nurses.

South Pacific tells the tale of two couples – Emile de Becque, a French plantation owner and Ensign Nellie Forbush, a U.S. Navy nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas, and Lt. Joseph Cable, of the U.S. Marine Corps and Liat, a native islander – whose relationships are put under cultural and wartime pressures. The story is based upon author James Michener’s book, “Tales of the South Pacific,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948.

Although I may be slightly biased, (I played the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush my senior year at Dowling Catholic High School) I would argue that South Pacific is one of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most well-written musical productions. Songs such as: “Some Enchanted Evening,” “There Is Nothing Like A Dame,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” and “A Wonderful Guy,” are sure to keep the audiences’ toes tapping throughout the show. The great part about the Civic Center’s production of the show was the fact that the music was played by a full 25 member orchestra – 20 of those members being from Central Iowa. This gave a full, lively sound to the well-written scores.

My personal favorites of the show were Bloody Mary, played by Keala Settle, Lt. Joseph Cable, played by Anderson Davis, and Stewpot (George Watts) played by Genson Blimline. Settle brought life and laugher onto the stage with her sarcastic comments and strong will, Davis’s voice stole the show (man, he has some great pipes) and Blimline added a sharp, comedic attitude to the mix. Overall, the entire cast of characters were very well cast in their roles.  

After seeing the show on opening night I can confidently say that the show brought laughter, big personalities, great music and life to the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. It’s a must see!

Get your tickets today by visiting the Civic Center’s website. After you see South Pacific, make sure you let me know what you thought of the show!

MASH: Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House

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As I look back and reminisce about the countless hours that I spent as a little girl counting, filling in categories and figuring out who I was going to marry, what I’d drive and what my dream job was, never did I think that I’d be driving a Monte Carlo, living in West Des Moines and working as the Director of Communication and Marketing at local non-profit. But thanks to the game MASH, I’ve had some rather interesting predictions over the years. And quite honestly, I’m happy that some of them didn’t come true!

For starters, the game MASH originated in the 80′s (I’m assuming on this one, simply because most awesome things come from the 80′s) and the acronym MASH stands for: Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House (that one I didn’t make up). In case it’s been a while since your last MASH adventure, or you have no idea what I’m talking about (shame on you) here’s how to play:

1) Find a friend (I know, seems harder than it should be). You have to play with a friend, otherwise you’ll catch yourself cheating (no matter who you are) to get a better husband, car, job, ect.

2) Write down the names of different categories that you’d like to base your prediction on: career, number of children, husband/wife, ect. After you’ve written down the categories, write down 2 choices under each category that you’d like and your friend gets to fill in a third (their choice is usually funny/screws you over in some way). If you’d like to add more than 3 choices, go ahead! Example: Car - 1) BMW 2) Hummer 3) Short Bus.

3) Draw a spiral on a piece of paper. The person whose fortune is being predicted will get to say stop, and the drawer will stop drawing the spiral. Then, count across the spiral and you’ll have the “magic number” for the game. Note: It’s not funny, even though you think it is, to make your friend draw a super-huge, anaconda-esk spiral.

4) Now that you have your list all set up, count down the list using the “magic number” and cross off any choice that you land on. The last choice left in each category is your prediction – simple as that!

Thanks to my most recent run in with MASH, via my roommates ipod touch, (download it on your ipod) here’s what the future has in store for me…apparently:

“You will graduate from DMACC, you will major in Graphic Design, marry Ryan Reynolds, you will get married at 25, get married on a Beach, spend your honeymoon in Barbados, settle down in Milwaukee, and live in a Mansion. You will have 4 kids (1 boys and 3 girls), have a pet Westie named Meatball, get around in a Pink Hummer, spend your days as a Graphic Designer, make $5,000-$10,000 per year. Your spouse will be a Doctor, make $200,000-$300,000 per year, drive a School Bus, and you will live happily ever after. The End!”

If you’re not into the old school way of doing things, you can also play MASH online.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

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Now that I’m on my own I’ve grown to enjoy cooking. One of my favorite things to do is to go online, look up recipes and try them out. Usually when I look up recipes, it’s simply because I have a lot of random ingredients and somehow I need to put them together into something edible. And to be honest, some days it seems like an episode of Food Network’s Chopped. We have some noodles, tomatoes, beans…let’s throw in some chicken and make it a soup! This week, while trying to get rid of some bananas, I came across a recipe for Banana Oatmeal Cookies from cooks.com which was delicious. Here’s the recipe along with an addition…cream cheese frosting!

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 small very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350°F while you are combining all the ingredients in the order that they are listed. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes (depending upon size of cookies). Note: the cookies may look a little more flat than normal cookies.

While the cookies are cooling, it’s time to make some frosting for the top. Here’s how:

Cream Cheese Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese
4 tbps. butter, softened
2 tbps. milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together with a mixer. Make sure that you wait until the cookies are cooled before you frost them. Now…invite some friends over, enjoy and let them tell you how delicious your cookies are!

Welcome!

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Welcome to my blog! It’s been quite some time since I’ve blogged. Actually, it’s been about two years. In 2008, I originally began blogging as a way for my friends and family to stay in touch with me as I lived in Seville, Spain, studied Spanish and traveled throughout Europe. Recently, I’ve noticed that I miss writing and breaking down my thoughts. Therefore, I created this blog. Hopefully you find listening to my crazy antics, sarcastic commentary and stories exciting as I start my adult life! Enjoy.