I am getting very excited about the prospect of going to Norway. I went to Prairie Lights on lunch break today and did a little reading about it, and the city of Bergen sounds like it’s absolutely lovely. All the better, our friend/coworker Ken and his family are also seriously considering going, and they lived in Bergen for over a year. It would be great to have somebody to hang out with who knew it from a local perspective. Kaspar and Sabine (I’m blowing any secrecy about who the betrothed couple is, but I don’t think it’s top-secret) know Bergen well, of course, but I wouldn’t want to ask them to be tour guides right around their wedding.

Here’s a picture from the perspective of the Bergen funicular. Doesn’t this look rad? [Edited to add: after posting this, I noticed the similarity to my banner image. I apparently I like vacationing in places with green mountains and blue water.]

If you happened to click on Kaspar’s site up above, you noticed that the film reviews are in Norwegian and the stuff about remodeling his house is in English. I’m not sure why he did that, but it’s kind of cool. Note: I speak zero Norwegian or any other Scandanavian language. Just looking at it, it looks pretty Germanic, but the only Germanic language I speak is English (thanks to Jack for pointing that out some time ago). Nonetheless, Kaspar sprinkles in enough English that I think I can take a stab at translating his review of Corpse Bride:

“Fans of Mr. Tim Burton blah blah blah Planet of the Apes and Big Fish. This story is classic Burton: blah blah blah. Blah blah blah Burton is a good storyteller and the result is a bit grotesque. This film is like the old-school Nightmare Before Christmas, at least in terms of the effect, blah blah blah Harry house and Jon Blund on acid.”

I really have no idea what he’s talking about. Actually the one word I know in Norwegian is og, which means and, so I know I got that one. Otherwise I’d better hope Ken is telling the truth when he says that English is widely spoken. I’ve never been anywhere where I have no clue about the language. Even France wasn’t too bad because I can more or less read French. Ay yi yi!

If anybody would like discount tickets to Sweet Charity, please let me know by 5 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday). I can buy them in advance for $13 each; they are normally $16 for adults, $14 for students/seniors. I do have to pay for them in full, so no fair asking for them and not paying me back.

Still, I’d be happy to do it for you if you’d like to come. Denny’s taking pictures at the dress rehearsal tonight, so maybe he can post some to whet your musical appetite.

Show dates are this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 5, at 8 p.m., and Sunday the 6th at 5 p.m. It’s also the following weekend, November 11, 12, and 13, at the same times (Friday and Saturday at 8, Sunday at 5). It’s in Oakdale Auditorium, which is in the Oakdale campus of the University of Iowa. That’s set apart from the rest of the campus; the easiest way to get there is to take I-80 exit 240, like to Coral Ridge Mall, except go away from the mall out of the exit (north).

There are more explicit directions available at City Circle Theatre’s website.