Them on Us: Annie Oakley shot down

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

By Jake Nichols

“Annie Oakley was the 19th century equivalent of Angelina Jolie,” wrote Anton Anderssen for eTurboNews. Anderssen, sometimes known as “Mr. Polo,” took the opportunity to celebrate Oakley’s birthday (Aug. 13) by traveling to Jackson Hole to see the local production of Annie Get Your Gun.

Anderssen was tipped off by old-time locals to eat breakfast at the Virg and grab dinner at Bubba’s, and stay away from ‘dinner shows’ where the food was “pretty bad at all of them,” Anderssen wrote. Still, Anderssen wanted to catch Annie at the JH Playhouse.

“I made numerous attempts to reach their public relations representative to get at least some orientation to the historic 1916 building which houses the theatre. Emails and faxes were ignored. When I tried telephoning to find out who handled journalist inquiries, the box office manager was pretty nasty to me. He claimed he would call back with the information, but blew me off.”

Miffed, Anderssen turned to a trusted source: JH Weekly. He read Matthew Irwin’s review of the production which included: “tin-can hollowness … curtains are getting a little worn … too big for the playhouse’s britches … makes a cast of skilled young actors look like they’re performing for their parents in a suburban basement.”
 “Ouch! I guess I didn’t miss much,” Anderssen wrote after skipping the show.

Snake surfing
“A surfboard atop a vehicle, 700 miles from the nearest ocean, is your first clue that the surf's up in Wyoming.” So starts the sweet piece CNN did on boarding the Lunch Counter. Check it out at: www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/08/09/wyoming.river.surfing/.

World-class photographer Rich Addicks wrote the piece for CNN. He called Lunch Counter, “Mother Nature's version of a washing machine on steroids.” Some river surfers ‘hang ten’ for up to 20 minutes in the hydraulic, especially when flows are at prime, around 10,000 to 12,000 cfs. Addicks said most locals are aware of the subtle etiquette governing the length of time one has with the wave before surrendering the surf to another.

Addicks also dug up some cool history: “According to local lore, ski bums from California started surfing Lunch Counter in the late 70s. Back then they had to scramble their way down a steep hill to get to the river.”

Brits and bankers
Annie Oakley she’s not, but transplanted British writer Melissa Whitworth is trying her best to fit in out West. Writing for the Telegraph (London, UK), she recounted her experiences while in Jackson Hole this summer.

“I have fired my first gun (a horrifying experience) and hiked through mountains (having a panic attack halfway up),” she wrote.

Fellow Telegraph scribe Jack Quinn also previewed the upcoming Central Bankers Symposium taking place this weekend in Jackson Hole. He said Ben Bernanke will kick off the get-together with a closed meeting speech entitled “Lessons from a year in crisis.”

Since 1978, the Federal Reserve has hosted, what Whitworth dubbed, “a corporate retreat to let the tycoons of Wall Street tap into their inner cowboy” in Jackson Hole. JHW

Courtesy photo
Annie Oakley at the JH Playhouse

PERMALINK:
Them on Us: Annie Oakley shot down | Planet JH News Article: General News

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