Less Miserable (A Classically Snarky Jeremy Vent)

I have a bad habit when it comes to seeing movies. You see, I'm a person who sets his hopes so high that no movies can ever satisfy them. Therefore, when I'm getting excited for a movie, I start to set myself up for disappointment, and just expect that it's going to be bad. Very rarely do I end up disliking a movie as much as I'm afraid I will. Take for example, the 2010 cow pie known as Skyline. Ugh. That was partially my fault, though, since I didn't prep myself to hate it. I just figured it wouldn't be quite as good as I hoped. It was awful. When I saw it opening night with my wife and my sister's family, I was SHOCKED by how bad it was. I couldn't believe a Hollywood studio had greenlit it. Having friends working in the film industry, I know how hard it is to get something made.

After I got home from seeing Skyline, I posted this on Facebook:

Jeremy is wondering if Hollywood will ever again be able to assemble a cast as untalented/unlikable as the one in Skyline.

I only got a few responses. 2 said they had heard the same thing, 2 seemed grateful that I saved them the misery of seeing it, and 1 was said that I didn't like an actor that he did. That was it. No fanfare, no argument.

Flash forward 2 years to this holiday movie season. We had the chance to go see an advance screening of Les Miserables a week before it came out, and we didn't take it. By the time we saw it, 3 days after Christmas, my Facebook and Twitter feeds were completely plastered with praise about how it was the most brilliant movie ever made, and everybody connected with it so well, and pretty much saying that God himself could not have made a better movie.

I was still doubtful. I had seen the trailer with Anne Hathaway singing "I Dreamed a Dream" and a snippet of the whole cast singing "One Day More," and I hadn't been impressed by either.

I was also sick of hearing about the "revolutionary" new way that they filmed it, by recording everything live on the set with just a rehearsal pianist following the actors, and then adding the orchestra later.

GUESS WHAT?! That's how it was always done in the past. If you don't believe me, watch special features on old movie musical DVDs. The two that immediately come to mind are The Wizard of Oz and West Side Story (yes, I know they redubbed the voices on the latter, but I don't think they originally planned to, or at least the actors had no idea, and it was therefore standard practice).

On the morning of Friday, December 28, 2012, we journeyed to the Provo Towne Centre with our friend, Teri, and settled into our perfect reserved seats (front row of the upper section so you can put your feet up on the railing - a MUST for long movies).

The movie started, with grand, sweeping images of convicts trying to pull a ship into port (is that what they were doing?) in the rain, while Russell Crowe stood watch. The exciting opening chords of the music started, and I immediately felt that something wasn't right. The thrilling, heart-pumping music was too quiet. The cinematography was BEAUTIFUL, and the shots were set very nicely. And then they started to sing. And it all went to Hell.

Les Miserables is a musical, one of which I'm very fond. I remember the first time I got to play in the pit for the show, and I was ridiculously emotional because the music meant SO much to me. I remember being 16, and sitting in a rehearsal with Syd Riggs and some of the leads, as she talked to them about how God is the root of the story, and after that, the story meant even more to me. I have multiple recordings of the show, including the atrocious original French concept album - which I dearly love.

As I watched this new adaptation, I was actually really impressed with the technical aspects. And as far as adaptations go, it was pretty brilliant. They did a fantastic job of cutting the show down, adding some new things that couldn't be done on stage, and switching the order of some songs/scenes was pretty inspired.

But the singing.

Oh, the singing.

Sorry. "Singing."

What I heard was not singing, for the most part. Hugh Jackman was decent as ValJean. Samantha Barks was fantastic as Eponine, as was Aaron Tveit as Enjolras. I loved the children (Little Cosette and Gavroche). Anne Hathaway was pretty decent. But everybody else ranged from bad to flat-out horrible.

Halfway through the movie, Russell Crowe started to sing again, and Teri, who has NO training in music or theatre, groaned out loud about how bad he was. Throughout several parts of the movie, I was shaking, with my head down, trying hard not to laugh. The love duets were the worst. To top it all off, the sound mix was terrible, and the voices overpowered the beautiful new orchestrations.

I can appreciate good acting. Look, I'm not the best singer. In fact, I'm not very good at all, and the only way I can do musicals is by compensating with my acting. As a music director and even a director, I always harp on casts to focus more on the acting than the singing. I GET that acting is important. (Also, remember, I have a degree in theatre.) I think Anne Hathaway understood this, and she had a fantastic balance between singing and acting. But other actors in this movie KNEW they couldn't sing, and therefore, they didn't lose themselves completely in the roles as they should have. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen, who did their best to ruin Sweeney Todd in the same way, were actually not that terrible this time around, except they both seemed so nervous that they dragged all of their tempos. "Master of the House" seemed like it went on forever. I LOVE Russell Crowe as an actor. Gladiator is one of my all-time favorite movies. When he is invested in a role, he's Oscar-worthy (see also: The Insider). But every time he walked on screen, he looked petrified. He was not the commanding military official that Inspector Javert needs to be.

After the movie, we went to eat and discuss how let-down we were. I wanted the movie to be good. I wanted it to be an Oscar winner. I wanted Hollywood to start making more Broadway adaptations again, because there haven't been enough lately. But the movie was a huge disappointment, and the others with me agreed.

Without going into any details, I posted the following on Facebook:

There must be two Les Miserables movies out, because the one I just sat through was not deserving of all the raves I'm hearing.

As we sat and ate, the responses started coming. Several likes, and a few people who agreed or implied that they were grateful for my opinion. And then the arguments.

Look. I believe in freedom of speech. I do. But I don't go onto your Facebook wall and argue with you. Unless you post something that I find racist, sexist, or in another way damaging to others, I'm just going to ignore it if I disagree. So, how is it okay for people to come on and tell me that I'M WRONG and that it was a brilliant movie? And telling me that my nearly 20 years of music directing experience is not enough to know what makes a good voice and what doesn't?

I was upset by some comments/messages/tweets that I got about it. Even though I wouldn't do it to others, I wasn't really bugged by the "oh, I didn't feel that way at all" types. But when people started telling me I was wrong, I was really upset. I'm currently working in the musical theatre industry. I just went out to New York and met with licensing company reps, a composer, and a NYC-based MD, all of whom seemed to respect me, my talent, and my knowledge. I've gotten compliments from composers on how I've handled their work. But, I guess I'm wrong when it comes to my "opinions" on whether people can sing or not.

It's frustrating to me that our online culture has made it easier for stupid attacks like that to happen. And what's more, it's frustrating that our generation takes offense so easily. If you liked Les Miserables, good for you! I hated it, and you know what - THAT'S OKAY. We can still be friends. I'm not attacking YOU for liking it when I say that I didn't. Offense is taken, not given. If your feelings are hurt because I didn't like a movie that you did, I wonder what's going on in your life that makes you feel that it was an attack on you. Low self-esteem? Loneliness? If that's the case - I'll do whatever I can to help you and be your friend, but I'm not going to change my opinion on something that I feel I was fully entitled to critique the way I did. And by all means, if you're mad at me for disagreeing with you, please do us both a favor and unfriend/block/unfollow me.

[/rant]

*sigh*

Playing the glad game now. Here are some of my favorite film adaptations of musicals, most of them are not critically-acclaimed or even loved by my friends - and that's okay.

• Rent - I have never loved the stage version, so I felt (unlike most fans) that it was an improvement. I loved that they cleaned it up a bit, I loved that they stretched out the timeline of the first act, and I LOVED the new orchestrations. The stage show always felt raw and unfinished to me, which is understandable under the circumstances, but I like the finished product. And it was more emotional to me on film, as I connected with it more. (Hated that they changed the time setting, though.)
• South Pacific - Even though the funky colors didn't work for me, I loved how they took advantage of the beauty of the islands with the beautiful cinematography. I like how they changed up the order of the scenes a bit, too. Opening with Cable flying in helps you to feel as though you're arriving on the island for the first time as well. Also, SPOILER ALERT: when Cable dies, it's a little more sad, since he's the first one you identify with.
• West Side Story - Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise showed what you could really do with a movie musical. The ensemble scenes are incredible. I don't love the dubbed singing voices, but after hearing Natalie Wood's original vocals, I'm glad they did it, at least for her. And I'd rather have dubbed voices that don't totally fit what's going on than terrible singing...
• Little Shop of Horrors - I miss some of the things that were removed from the stage show, but I felt that for the medium, it worked. The musical was trying to be a B movie onstage, whereas on screen, it became a true B movie musical. It was an improvement on the original movie, for sure, and the cast was nearly perfect.
• Hairspray - I love the music in the stage show, but the plot gets a little bogged down. I like that they streamlined it a little more, and it was just so fun and infectious. I wish John Travolta and Christopher Walken would have loosened up a bit, but that's a minor issue.

While the Merry Bells Keep Ringing

It's officially the holiday season.

Did you know that I love this time of year? Because I do. I started listening to Christmas music on Halloween night as we drove home from celebrating at my parents' house. I have close to 2000 Christmas songs on my iPod now, and I'm almost through them all. This is awesome, because I'll still have time to go back and listen to all of my favorites again before the season is over. Thank goodness for commute time and long flights.

We just finished decorating for our second year in our house. Our main floor is basically one big room, and when you first walk in the door, you can see around 20 Christmas trees. Some are just little foil things, some are Charlie Brown trees, but two are actual 6 1/2' lit-up extravaganzas. One is the fun tree, which has a lot of Disney stuff, Batman, Christmas Story, Gremlins, etc. The other is our "adult tree" (say it out loud), which is more classy (hehe). We tried to keep the front half of the room (the more formal space) a little less character-driven and more classic. The other half is all fun and games, though. And our big shelving unit/room divider from Ikea is bursting with fun Christmas things.

On the outside of the house, we bought two new strands of lights this year, so it's brighter than last. We still have our big Mickey wreath over our garage, but we didn't put out the deer that my mom loaned us last year. They led to too much deer fornication for my taste. Poor Rudolph.

We've already put a good dent in our Christmas movie collection as well. And with Thanksgiving out of the way, we've already started the holiday cooking/baking season.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house, and it was great. Very calm, lots of good food, and family. I made stuffing from homemade focaccia with Italian sausage. It may have been the best stuffing ever, even though I accidentally put in too much broth and it was a little mushy (stupid test-run was too dry).

Just over a week ago, I had to go on a last-minute work trip to New York, and while I was there, I had one night to go see a show. I decided to see A Christmas Story: The Musical, because why not? Also, I love being there at Christmas and seeing limited shows that aren't necessarily going to be there the next time I go. Unless the show is Elf. I NEVER want to see Elf. Not The Grinch, either. But White Christmas was amazing, so I hoped for the same in A Christmas Story. It didn't disappoint. I had a hard time getting into the adaptation at first, but by the end, I was loving it. I felt like a kid again, seeing the story for the first time. And the dad from The Wonder Years was in it, so I REALLY felt like a kid again. Even though I got my ticket only a couple days before I went, I was able to score the best seat in the house. Row H (that's the 8th row) and dead center. I could see the spit flying from the actors' mouths. I could see every bead of sweat on the Old Man's face as he danced with a chorus of leg lamps.  It was fantastic. I bought the soundtrack while I was sitting in JFK, waiting for my flight home, and I've already listened to it a handful of times.

I was also able to get some new Hanukkah decorations in New York. They're hard to find in Utah, but not so much in New York.

We started a tradition a couple years ago of going to the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork with Teri and Bristol. We haven't planned our outing for this year yet, but I'm excited. I can't imagine the holidays without them. They've also been our Walking Dead buddies lately. Well, Teri has been. Bristol comes sometimes and plays his DS the whole time as he slyly peeks at the screen until he gets too scared. I love that show, and having others that yell at the TV with me is pretty fun. Stupid winter hiatus. Fun fact: by the time the season resumes after this Sunday's mid-season finale, we'll have a baby. Unless she's really late. But she won't be.

We also have a tradition of having an annual Christmas Piano Party. This year is going to be great, because we'll have an ACTUAL PIANO. Well, that is if the movers get it to us in time. It was supposed to arrive last night, and the mover was late to pick it up from the shop, so nobody was there. It will now supposedly be delivered later this week. I'll be on another short business trip, so I'll hopefully come home to a piano. It's an antique - from 1929. That's older than BOTH my parents. I had it completely refurbished. The insides are all fixed up, all new keys (the old ones were all chipped and some were missing), the pedals will work better...it'll be like new but will have the great sound of the antique soundboard. Nothing beats old pianos. Someday, I'll get the woodwork restored as well. It was black at one point, but a previous owner painted an ugly oak color over it. It needs to be black again.

In prep for getting the piano, we finally painted over the hideous brown wall on our main floor. That thing was awful. The previous homeowners sponged it themselves (pretty sure) and they didn't tape off around the edges, so it was really messy. There are still traces of brown all around the edges. Blech. But it's now a nice, calming gray. A black piano would look really good next to it.

The next home improvement project we have, which will need to be done during the holiday season, is prepping the nursery. We've already refinished an old dresser that my sister gave us, so now we need to paint the walls and do some decorations. Little girls need Batman posters, right?

We have just over 2 months left. Possibly less, if she's as early as I expect. This is our last Christmas without kids. We're already making a stocking for the baby, because we're making new ones for ourselves this year, and we figured it would be a waste to not just get it done now. The dorkies need stockings, too. They're like kids, but they're not KIDS. It's going to be really fun/crazy/awesome to actually have a little human to celebrate with next holiday season. She'll be almost a year old at that time. She'll hopefully be walking. We're going to have to put gates up around the trees, because she's going to try to play with the ornaments. Hopefully she's as good at listening as the dogs are. So far, they've been pretty good about it.

In case I don't blog again before Christmas, which I won't, merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Have the best Boxing Day! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, an amazing Halloween, and I hope your New Year is full of awesome resolutions that you don't intend to keep!

Happy holiday to you!

2011 in Review

Pretty much the only regular thing on my blog anymore is my annual wrap-up.

Last year, I wrote this:

Overall, this year will go down as the year that the world screwed me. Life with Lauren was great, but almost every other aspect of my life seemed to fall apart. I’ve been left rethinking my career, rethinking friendships, and regretting way too much.

On the plus side, that means 2011 can ONLY get better, right? That’s how I’m viewing it.

It DID get better. It totally did. 2011 was everything 2010 wasn’t. I got a better job, I had some very rewarding theatrical experiences, I got a house, I perfected my pancake-making and pizza dough-making skills, the family members who cause the most drama in our lives decided to remove themselves…it was a near-perfect year. The only thing missing was a trip to Disneyland, and that will come soon.

Here are some of the things that made 2011 so great.

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experience: Seussical
I’ve wanted to play the role of Horton since I saw the touring production in 2003, and somebody finally gave me the opportunity to prove that I could. One review said I wasn’t a good singer (which I tend to agree with), but of the three reviews I got, they were all generally positive. One even said I was the best in the show. Hot diggity! Working with Dave Tinney was amazing, and it was an experience I’ll never forget. Little Women was nearly perfect, and was the best ever page-to-stage rendition of one of my concepts. And I cried every time I saw it, along with lots of other people in the audience, so that was rewarding. It was truly touching. Anthem would have been better (equity/SAG actors! talented people! no divas!) except I clashed with the composer.

Runners-Up: Little Women, Anthem

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: NONE!
I only worked on three shows this year, and I regretted none.

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: The Drowsy Chaperone at HCTO
A) Dave Tinney is a genius
B) Brett Merritt is a genius
C) Marcie Jacobsen is fantastic
D) The rest of the cast was brilliant
E) I’ve never laughed so hard at a local theatre production

Runner-Up: Oklahoma at UVU

Favorite Movies: The Muppets, Winnie the Pooh
Two of my favorite things from childhood were resurrected and done well.

Runners-Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Least Favorite Movie: Insidious, The Roommate, Super 8
All three started out interestingly, but the first became unbearably cheesy, the second became a less-fun Single White Female, and the latter became a less-fun E.T.

Runner-Up: None

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None
We really didn’t see much in theaters this year.

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Everything
We’ve become the crotchety old people who go to the movies and shush everyone around us and tell kids to put away their darn phones. It’s bad. Nobody has manners anymore.

Favorite New TV Addiction: Suburgatory, The New Girl
Both are just plain fun.

Runners-Up: Once Upon a Time

Least Favorite New TV Shows: Pretty much everything else we tried…
When did TV get so dumb?

Favorite SNL Sketch: Ranch Dressing, Captain Jack Sparrow
These are two of the ONLY things that really made me laugh on SNL this year. Remember how it used to be one of my favorite shows? I watch it mostly out of duty now. Although, every once in a while, there will be an episode like the one with Jimmy Fallon, that makes me grateful that I haven’t pulled the plug on it yet.

Favorite Album: Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger”
Not as good as her last, but definitely not as bad as her first. It’s probably the only album I’ve gotten this year that I’ve listened to more than once the first week I had it.

Least Favorite Album: Didn’t have one
I don’t recall severely disliking anything I got this year, but I really didn’t get much new music.

Favorite Trip: St. George w/ my family
It was a nice break. It was way too hot, but we spent most of our time indoors, shopping, eating, and enjoying each other’s company.

Runners-Up: Los Angeles for Anthem

Best Concert: OneRepublic at Rio Tinto
Granted, we only saw two concerts this year, and this was the lesser of two evils. The band was INCREDIBLE. We were really close. I was worried after seeing Ryan Tedder botch a couple of live performances on TV, but he rocked it. The only major issue was that they only played a few songs. The whole set was around a half hour. LAME. We were introduced to soccer beforehand, though, so that was fun.

Worst Concert: None.
Stadium of Fire with David Archuleta (who we don’t care for) and Brad Paisley (who we don’t like). The concert itself wasn’t great, but the fireworks were MUCH better this year. And we had great seats, thanks to my company’s owner, who is head of the Freedom Festival. I should start dropping hints of better (ie, not country or American Idol wannabes) artists to get this year…

Dear 2012, the bar has been set!

It's Been a Hard Day's Night

I've been insanely busy with Seussical and whatnot, but it's totally worth it. Even though I'm neglecting my blog...

Here's a preview of upcoming blog topics:

• Seussical - It's kicking my butt, but SO rewarding. If you want to see it (which you should), I'm in the T/Th/S cast, and you need to get tickets ASAP, because it's selling out. There are a few nights I'm not doing, so if you want to see me, double-check before you get tix.
• New job - If we're close, you already know about this. I've been working a new job for a few months, and it's become pretty much full time now. It ROCS. (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose.) Today was my first time spending all day in the office. Teri says that makes me a "grown-up."
  

That's about it. Other things worth sharing:

• I miss Troy McClure. I feel pretty confident in saying that the beginning of the downfall of The Simpsons was Phil Hartman's death.
• Lost is fun to rewatch. Even the seasons that you THOUGHT were stupid originally and didn't know where they were heading.
• I want to be in Disneyland so bad right now that I can taste turkey leg.
• There's a new Scream movie coming out in A WEEK.
  

And now, I'm going to bed, because I'm EXHAUSTED.

2010 in Review

Welcome to the third installment of my annual wrap up blog. Bet you thought I wasn’t going to do it since I SUCK at blogging lately! Well, surprise!

Overall, this year will go down as the year that the world screwed me. Life with Lauren was great, but almost every other aspect of my life seemed to fall apart. I’ve been left rethinking my career, rethinking friendships, and regretting way too much.

On the plus side, that means 2011 can ONLY get better, right? That’s how I’m viewing it.

Thank you for your friendship this year. It’s been a really hard one, and I really appreciate it. And if you were the source of any trouble, then when I have some free time in the near future, and I record a cover of a famous song by Cee-Lo Green, consider it dedicated to you!

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experience: Snoopy! the Musical
I taught at Meridian for one year before it suddenly closed the Thursday before the new school year. Out of all the shows and events I worked on there, this one was my favorite. It was with a small class, consisting of ONLY upper school kids who wanted to be there and were willing to work. We threw the whole musical together in roughly 4 weeks, with about 2 hours of rehearsal per school day, and yet the kids really pulled it off. War of the Worlds would have been my favorite, but some fellow cast members who weren’t invested took it down a notch. Same story with Dirty. I loved working with Chris again, but some members of the cast were egotistical and downright rude.

Runners-Up: The War of the Worlds, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Willy Wonka
I just simply didn’t love doing this show. And I only did it for the money, which makes me a whore. I hated aspects of Fantastic Mr. Fox because of some nasty kids from my middle school class, but in the end, it turned out decent, and there were enough hard-working kids to make me proud.

Runner-Up: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: 110 in the Shade at Hale Orem
Audra McDonald 4 feet in front of me. Brilliant supporting cast. Enough said.

Runner-Up: I really didn’t see much theatre this year, and NOTHING compared.

Favorite Movies: Inception, Toy Story 3, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
No need to elaborate. I just loved them.

Runners-Up: Paranormal Activity 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Tron: Legacy

Least Favorite Movie: Skyline
I’ve never hated a movie this much. I still can’t believe it exists. And Alice was boring, poorly acted, and the 3D gave me the only 3D-induced headache I’ve ever had.

Runner-Up: Alice in Wonderland

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None
Nothing really stood out this year. Although, when we went to see Tron: Legacy, Lauren and I were super impressed with the dad who politely shushed his child when he tried to talk. Good for you! Way to start teaching children to not be awful.

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Skyline with Lauren and my sister’s family
The movie itself was bad, but the annoying people who never shut up made it even worse.

Favorite New TV Addiction: Modern Family
I can’t believe I didn’t get into this until after the first season was over. We watched the entire season in three afternoons before season 2 premiered, and the quality has stayed consistent.

Runners-Up: Raising Hope, Ma’s Roadhouse
Honorable Mention: LoneStar

Least Favorite New TV Shows: Hawaii Five-O, No Ordinary Family, Running Wilde, Undercovers
We’ve given up on almost every new show we’ve tried to watch this year. Some of them lasted a month, most lasted a couple episodes. They were just all so lame. Hawaii lasted the longest of these, Family the shortest.

Favorite SNL Sketch: 1920s Party
It was the most quotable, anyway. SNL has really gone downhill this year. I skip through more than I watch anymore.

Favorite Album: Bruno Mars’s “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”
This is the only new album I got this year that I’ve been able to listen to straight-through more than once. It’s not as offensive as a lot of music I’ve heard lately, and it’s just so darn infectious. I will never tire of hearing “Just the Way You Are.”

Least Favorite Album: Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas II You”
She’s ruined her voice. And now she’s ruined “Christmas Time Is Here,” which might be my favorite Christmas song. And she made a sex jam about the Baby Jesus. And her mother has AWFUL teeth.

Favorite Trip: Disneyland with Lauren
Good times. Not too busy. Did everything we wanted to do, including many firsts for me (Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The Blue Bayou, Innoventions, etc.).

Runners-Up: St. George for theatre teacher’s conference, Disneyland with Lauren’s family

Favorite Class: Upper School Drama
After a first trimester with too many kids who wanted easy A’s, I was able to weed it down to just kids that wanted to be there. And it was GREAT. So much fun to teach.

Least Favorite Class: Middle School Drama
Too many kids, and most of them had bad attitudes. I gave multiple F’s, and no kids or parents even tried to fix them when they knew that’s what was coming. That’s messed up.

Best Concert: Paul McCartney
Dream come true. A Beatle in person. And he performed for almost three hours straight. BRILLIANT. Loved every minute. And sharing it with Lauren, Teri & Bristol was great.

Worst Concert: Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood
Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Carrie Underwood? Well, it’s a whole lot. And when the fireworks show afterward sucked, it made it so it was even less worth sitting through.

Here’s to an amazing 2011!

Back to Blogging

You’d think that when one is unemployed, they’d have lots of time to spend blogging, right? Instead, time is filled with doing as many odd jobs as possible, performing a play, filling your dwelling with Christmas decorations, spending extra time cooking in order to create as many new recipes as possible, watching horror movie marathons on AMC, binging on Candy Cane Kisses, participating in baby blessings, celebrating at least 17 immediate family birthdays, etc.

Here is a brief (in Jeremy’s world, anyway) list of what’s been going on since I last blogged over a month ago:

• War of the Worlds came and went. It was overall a very fun experience. I loved, loved, LOVED working with my friends Dave and Sara. For the first time ever, my BFFF and I got a moment on stage together! Overall, I beat myself up quite a bit over my performance. I felt I could have done much better, but I got a lot of compliments, so I guess it balances. The hardest part of the experience was dealing with fellow cast members who didn’t know their lines well into the run. Part of my criticism of myself was that I never got any semblance of comfort due to the fact that I never knew what was going to come out of my fellow actors – or if they were even going to bother to come onstage sometimes. Blah. Overall, though: good experience.
• Halloween wasn’t celebrated very well due to WotW and the fact that it was on a Sunday. Lauren and I did, however, dress up in Spartan cheerleader costumes to go and help her family decorate their house for Christmas – on Halloween.
• I’ve been recording for other companies, in addition to doing my own tracks lately. It’s nice when I don’t have to worry about the quality of the overall project, and just have to do specific parts. It’s not nice having to adjust to others’ recording settings, though. And not having a Mac sometimes handicaps me.
• We went to a midnight Harry Potter screening. It was probably my least eventful one to date, but Lauren was there, so that’s a plus. We all wore matching shirts that said “I Fake My Horcruxes.” They weren’t as popular as the “Show Me Your Patronus” ones, but we did get lots of glares from zoobies and lots of people staring at our chests trying to A) read what it said and B) get the joke. Nothing is more fun than watching a confused kid (whose parents were #1) dumb enough to take him to the very adult movie and #2) dumb enough to take him to a midnight showing) staring at your wife’s chest for a good minute.
• We also saw the movie Skyline, which was the absolute worst, most horrible, terrible, no good, very bad movie EVER MADE. The Brothers Strause already killed the alien movie genre with Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem, and now they’ve spit on its remains. Terrible script, terrible acting, unlikeable cast, bad direction, awful effects, etc. My life’s mission is to keep anybody else from wasting money on this movie. PLEASE, DON’T!

That’s all that I can remember right now, other than what was mentioned at the beginning. My Thanksgiving resolution will be to blog more (like you’ve never heard THAT one before). Happy November!

Provo Sweeper

Last night, I watched Slumdog Millionaire for the first time. Great movie.

However, I ended up having dreams all night that were straight out of a Bollywood musical.

This was really annoying. Mostly, because there were full-on choreographed routines to songs written by my subconscious. I wish I could remember all of them, because they would come in handy.

I've decided that I'm going to make a movie called Provo Sweeper, about a boy from the ghetto of Provo who gets caught up in the Utah mafia, and they take his girlfriend. Then, he goes on Supermarket Sweep in order to get her attention so she knows he's okay.

It'll be greater than Slumdog. And it will have more musical numbers, and not just on the closing credits.

Are you so excited you can't handle it?!

On a Happier Note…

I should have posted that last post on my secret blog. Oops. Oh, well. Everyone needs some self-righteous, preachy person to remind them that lying is bad, right?

I realized that I haven’t really blogged about much lately. Since my blog is the only way I can keep track of life events (I can’t do journals, because writing takes too long and frustrates me that I’m wasting time), I should probably remind myself of important things that have happened since the last time I really blogged.

• I realized that I shouldn’t ever do a show just for the money. And then I made the mistake of doing ANOTHER show just for the money.
• Lauren and I got our apartment all put together. Okay, that’s a lie. There’s still random junk piles all over, but we deal with it. (It’s mostly just things that don’t have a home anywhere.)
• I’ve learned that some regular recipes can be cooked pretty well in a Crock Pot.
• I finished my first full year as a teacher, and by the end of the school year, I had a much more healthy outlook at my job.
• I did a couple of amazing shows.
• I worked on three shows at school. 1 was miserable, 1 was really fun, 1 was somewhere in between.
• I was invited to participate in a summer youth theatre camp, which I’ve loved every minute of, so far.
• I lost lots of blog traffic because I stopped posting.
• I’ve seen 3, yes, 3 movies in the theater this year: Alice in Wonderland, The A-Team, and Toy Story 3. I loved the 2 latter, hated the first. Never had such a splitting headache from 3d.
• I spent several months on a sourdough kick, and was making it at least once a week.
• I’ve had a younger family member go on a mission for the first time.
• I’ve proven that I CAN be even worse at writing a missionary than I was with Heather.
• I’ve gained a new-found love for sound editing.
• After almost a solid year of not playing Rock Band/Guitar Hero, I found my way back to them and started sharing them with my wife.
• I almost cried at the end of Lost, as well as the end of Toy Story 3.
• I learned that I can’t go into Costco just to pick up bottled water and a gift for Lauren. I end up buying Muppet Show and NewsRadio dvds.
• I learned that I’ve always looked the brilliance of Hamlet just because it’s too common.
• I’m coming close to making a decision about whether or not I want to pursue an MFA.
• I’ve learned that my writing skills are deteriorating the less I blog (not that they were good before, just worse now).
• I’ve realized that I’m too dang old to vent on blogs late at night when I have to get up early to go teach a vocal class.

2009 in Review

Last year I posted a 2008 in Review blog and said that I was going to try to make it an annual occurrence. Well, it now officially is, except I accidentally published this one over the old one. Guh! Oh, well. Out with the old, in with the new, I suppose…

Best Overall Experience: Dating & Marrying Lauren
Gosh, I love that girl. I can’t believe that we got this far without her being freaked out by me and running. Also, we’ve gotten this far without ever having an actual fight (unless you count play-fights, which I don’t.) She doesn’t feel the need to change who she is for me, and she doesn’t expect me to change who I am for her. She can take care of herself, but she lets me do what I can to take care of her. She’s slowly converting to all my loves (Saved by the Bell, horror movies, Friends, Buffy, etc.). Best of all, she loves me at least half as much as I love her.

Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Chess, Little Shop of Horrors
I loved my staff of Joseph, and despite all of the crap that happened with the cast, it was an amazing, rewarding experience to see my vision end up on stage. Chess wasn’t the greatest show I’ve ever worked on, but it was such an incredible personal experience, and I loved almost every single cast member. Also, I have a major man crush on Dave Tinney, and he’s one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with. This also leads to Little Shop. Other than one obnoxious person, I DID love the entire cast. And Dave and the Hales/Swensons were fantastic to work with. Also, the quality of the show was outstanding.

Runners-Up: The Monkey’s Paw

Least Favorite Personal Theatrical Experiences: Stellaluna, Shakespeare Competition
Stellaluna was a nightmare. The music was TERRIBLE. The cast tried their best, but it was just ugly music. Also, the director seemed to not have any organizational skills (and one director left halfway through the process) and my time was wasted a lot. Then, they didn’t get into runs, so I never got to go and actually help polish the music. I orchestrated the music, though, and I made it tolerable (to myself, at least). Getting my kids ready for Shakespeare was ridiculous. They were not committed, not focused, and many of them were just plain lazy. Then to go to the competition and have the kids not get a single award was pretty stinky, although when we calculated rehearsal hours, it was obvious why they didn’t. Blargh.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Local Theatre Productions: Singin’ in the Rain (HCTO), As You Like It (HCTO)
I hate Singin’. HATE. But they did a fantastic job with it. Music aside (which I arranged/orchestrated and even composed some), AYLI was FANTASTIC. I was able to see both casts, and it was really tough trying to choose a favorite cast. Each actor was very well cast. Chris Clark is a freaking genius. Even people I know who usually don’t “get” Shakespeare seemed to enjoy themselves. Except for the horrendously fat people next to Teri and me, who left at intermission. Not that we complained.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Professional Theatre Productions: White Christmas, In the Heights (Both Broadway)
I never really cared for the movie of White Christmas, but I had heard that the Broadway version had been fixed up and made more “Christmassy.” I had to find out. It was true, and it was incredible. It had the feel of a golden age musical, but a modern feel to the pace (not unlike the current Broadway production of South Pacific). The cast was amazing, the choreography was stunning, the sets were to-die-for, and the tech was fantastic. Loved every aspect. In the Heights was almost as good the second time. Most of the leads were the originals, with the exceptions of Usnavi, Vanessa, Piragua Guy, Graffiti Pete, and Kevin (who was SO much better than the original). I would have probably been completely consumed by the story, had it not been for the fact that the audience was less classy than before, and people talked and shuffled throughout.

Runners-Up: None.

Least Favorite Professional Theatre Production: Aida (Tuacahn)
I don’t even want to talk about it because of the post-traumatic stress. It was so much about the spectacle that I forgot there was a small story. The stage-flooding was ridiculous. The camel was just silly. Of the leads, the only one who was consistently on pitch was Aida, and the others were so far off sometimes that it was pathetic. I was embarrassed for the cast, and as my first show at Tuacahn, it left me unimpressed with the company.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Movies: Drag Me To Hell, Up, Star Trek
Drag Me was the return of classic Sam Raimi, and I loved every second. Up made me cry, multiple times. It was an incredible story with very relatable characters. Star Trek was the first time I’ve ever not only just enjoyed a Star Trek movie, but loved it.

Runners-Up: Paranormal Activity (Until the ending), Michael Jackson’s This Is It, Disney’s A Christmas Carol

Least Favorite Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
SO terrible. Even though it was the first movie Lauren and I saw as a couple. It gave me one of the worst headaches of my life.

Runners-Up: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Paranormal Activity (Because of the ending)

Favorite Movie-Going Experience: Toy Story & Toy Story 2 in 3-D
Lauren and I had the entire theater to ourselves for the latter, and it was a really nice change of pace.

Runners-Up: Disney’s A Christmas Carol with the Varneys (Do families REALLY all go to movies together?!), GI Joe with Phil & Nick

Least Favorite Movie-Going Experience: None.

Strangely enough, nothing was TOO bad this year.

Runner-Up: None.

Favorite New TV Shows: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel, Community
Neither of the first two was actually on TV new this year, but I watched them both in less than 6 months, and they were fantastic. Community is fast-becoming as clever as the first few seasons of The Office. I love the characters, I love the situations, and I love the humor. I haven’t really started watching any other new shows this year (which is good), although I really wanted to watch V. I’ll catch it on DVD.

Runner-Up: Parks and Recreation, Glee

Least Favorite New TV Show: Accidentally on Purpose
I tried to get into it because my friend Rachel sings on it, apparently. After a few episodes, I didn’t hear/see Rachel, and I wanted to die over how stupid it was.

Runners-Up: Glee (so hit and miss that sometimes it’s a favorite, sometimes I despise it)

Favorite SNL Sketches: “Say Anything,” “Digital Short: Doogie Howser Theme”
Loved them.

Runner-Up: “what up with that?” with Mindy Kaling as the guest. Her expressions were priceless.

Favorite Albums: Kelly Clarkson’s All I Ever Wanted, The Fray’s The Fray, OneRepublic’s Waking Up, Mat Kearney’s City of Black & White
Even though I don’t love Kelly much anymore, her album was my favorite of the year. It was perfect, except for one song (you know, Matt). I had it on repeat for WEEKS, and it got me through student teaching. The Fray was fantastic. Nothing new, but it was more of the classic Fray sound I love. Same with OneRepublic. Nothing too different (except maybe the children’s choir), but I loved it. Ryan Tedder is a brilliant producer, no matter what Kelly says. Mat’s newest was fantastic, too.

Runners-Up: Rodney Carrington’s Make It Christmas, Jack’s Mannequin’s The Glass Passenger (new to me), Vedera’s The Weight of an Empty Room (also new to me)

Least Favorite Album: None.
I didn’t purchase any this year that I didn’t like.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Trips: Southern California with family, New York honeymoon 
Everyone got along fairly well for once (other than one person, who I “kindly” chastised a couple times) and despite Glenn’s car getting burglarized, and the fact that the San Diego Zoo is boring when you’re not an animal lover, a good time was had by all. New York was great, for many reasons. Most of which, I won’t share, due to the fact I’m a gentleman.

Runners-Up: None.

Least Favorite Trip: St. George/Las Vegas with family
All we did was shop. I DID get some fantastic hats, though.

Runners-Up: None.

Favorite Class: Student Teaching
Yes, it counted as a class. Yes, I complained while it was happening. However, I learned SO MUCH, and I’ve bumped into some of the kids since I finished, and I DID make a difference in their lives.

Runner-Up: None.

Least Favorite Class: Classroom Management II
Remember the education professor that I NEVER liked? Yeah. He taught it. Enough said.

Runners-Up: None! I only had two this year!

Best Concerts: The Fray & Jack’s Mannequin, The Killers, Mat Kearney & Vedera
The first was amazing because of the music, the second had great spectacle (which fit the music), and the third was the first intimate club-setting I’ve ever attended (also, probably the last).

Runners-Up: Jim Brickman, Rascal Flatts

Worst Concerts: Kelly Clarkson, Lonestar

Kelly sang a short set, and the experience itself was miserable. Lonestar just wasn’t the same without Richie as the lead singer.

 

Here’s to an incredible 2010!!!

Random Thoughts on a Thursday Afternoon

*I started writing this on an actual Thursday afternoon. November 19, to be exact. Then, for some reason, I didn’t finish it or post it. When my brother was complaining on Facebook that he doesn’t have anything to do while he’s supposed to be working because I don’t post as much lately, I decided to throw him a bone.*

I need to finish grading some quizzes, but I KNOW that I won’t be able to get them all done before I have to leave, so I’m not going to do them now.

As I’ve been working today, I’ve been watching last night’s Glee. I’m so torn on this show. I started out loving it, but lately, it’s getting more and more lame. Last week’s episode was great, because the subject of special needs kids is something I’m passionate about. This week’s SUCKED, though. The only thing that keeps me coming back to the show is the creative way they use music, but I’m so sick of the over-processed computer voices that I can’t handle it much longer.

My kids in school have stepped it up lately. They’re finally getting it. Also, some of the kids I can’t stand are transferring out of my class next term. WOOT!

Ew. Glee is using emotional manipulation.

We went and saw This Is It the other day, and I’m more of a Michael Jackson fan than ever before. I kind of wish that he would have lived and come to Salt Lake on his tour. NOT a fan of the new “Thriller” segment he was going to use, though. Gag.

I’m getting married in exactly one month. That means we can get our marriage license any time now. It also means I need to hurry and get the announcements to the printer this weekend so they can be mailed next week.

Today is my last day of class until the Monday after Thanksgiving. WOOFREAKINHOO!!!!! I’m going to be SO productive. I’m going to record a show, do a bunch of wedding stuff, start moving into the apartment, clean my car, and try to do as much Christmas shopping as possible to get that out of the way.

The other night at Urinetown rehearsal, I was in the middle of conducting a song, and suddenly, I saw a metal folding chair move a few inches in the middle of the room. I looked around, and NOBODY was looking but me. They all had their faces buried in their music. I was very startled.

The next night, at Disco Inferno rehearsal, Eleanor (the SCERA’s ghost), threw my watch off the piano. It was sitting about 8 inches in from the left side, and suddenly it flew off and landed just left of the piano. CREEPY. People saw that one, though.

I love lighthouses. The real deal. Not decorations. The actual towers. Every time I’m on the coast, I want to visit at least one.

I just sneezed and pulled a muscle in my arm. UGH. Getting old stinks.

***

That was where I left off in the original. Here are more random thoughts, at nearly 2 AM on a Wednesday morning.

I really wish I had a better sleeping schedule. Right now, I really wish I was asleep, but lately I’ve been up working every night until at least this time, so my body does not want to sleep right now.

I didn’t get to half of my to-do list for Thanksgiving break. Don’t get me wrong- I got a TON of stuff done. Just not as much as I had hoped.

I don’t know how people collected addresses for invitations before Facebook existed.

It’s really hard trying to decide who to invite to your wedding reception. I wish I didn’t know as many people and have as many friends. If you had told me in high school that in 10 years I’d be saying that, I would have laughed at you.

The printer couldn’t get the invites done any earlier than tomorrow (EEK!), and this causes stress. We’ll be hand-delivering as many as we can this week to make sure people can get them and have two weeks notice for the reception. And that’s IF they’re ready tomorrow, and not Thursday, as the printer guaranteed would be the latest.

One last invite related thought – today, while I was being uber-productive, I was catching up on SNL episodes and saw a commercial for Blue Boutique. Pretty darn sure the font they used for everything was the same font as our invites. UGH.

Also while I was being productive tonight, I watched The Brothers Bloom. What a lame movie. I usually like independent movies, but this one stunk (despite a great cast). However, there was one exchange that made me laugh really hard, and almost made the movie worthwhile:

Penelope Stamp: [drunk] I think you're constipated.
Bloom: Constipated?
Penelope Stamp: Yeah. You're constipated. In your ******* soul. I think there is a great, humongous wad of poop up your soul's ***.

I know it’s pretty juvenile, but man, I laughed.

I never really liked the movie Major League. However, I LOVE Major League II. Especially the character of Rube.

I cleaned out all of my financial records for the last 10 years, and I now have a basket full of papers waiting to be shredded. This will go well with the shopping bag full of check stubs and receipts that are waiting to be shredded from when I cleaned those out last year.

Oh! I think I’m finally tired enough to go to bed. Going now.

(Happy, Glenn?! :P)

My Big Book of Grievances

• Some guy in the cast of Joseph keeps flirting with Lauren and flat-out propositioning her. And he KNOWS that we’re dating. That’s sexual harassment, right? If she tells him to back off because she has a boyfriend, and he still does it, then I’m fully justified to threaten to punch him in the face the next time he does, right?
• I’m so sick and tired of the few divas in Joseph. I’m done with the show, and haven’t been there for a few days, and I’m STILL hearing horror stories about these people. UGH. I want to go up to them after closing night and say “If I have my way, you’ll never be cast in Utah again.” I told Danielle today that I actually wish I was mean enough to say that. I won’t, but I definitely won’t ever recommend working with them to anyone.
• Have I ever confessed on my blog that in addition to my secret desire to be a Mormon pop star, I also want to create a Mormon soap opera? Well, I do. And it’s going to be based around negative stereotypes. I hate, hate, HATE negative stereotypes. But what I hate more than negative stereotypes are people who live up to them.
• I got a HUGE bug bite on my leg last weekend, and within a day, it was infected. How the?! As I type, I’m sitting here with my leg dipped in a bucket of water and Epsom salt.
• This new episode of Ghost Hunters is kind of boring.
• I really can’t stand it when people lie to me. I REALLY can’t stand it when people lie to Lauren and her brothers.
• I’m sad that I may not see the final performance of Joseph and that I’ll never see this production of Joseph again. I’m SO proud of it. If I do make it tomorrow night, I’ll probably bawl through the entire show. Maybe I shouldn’t try to make it after all.
• I don’t like people who get on power trips, say things they shouldn’t, and then don’t apologize, even though they KNOW they were wrong.
• I’m so sick of people who don’t know the word “please.” I drill that into my students’ heads. I won’t even acknowledge them if they ask for something without saying it. They’re called “manners,” people. Look into them.
• Why was I born with the world’s worst skin? I’m dreading the fact that I need to shave to go to Amesily’s wedding tomorrow. I could be a slob and not do it, but after seeing how shlubby the guy next to me looked at the temple the first time I went through, I made a goal to ALWAYS be completely clean-shaven when I’m there. Blah. Curse you, Amesily, for getting married in the temple!!! If I’m all razor burned tomorrow, it’s your fault.
• I was starving after rehearsal tonight, so I stopped at Del Taco. It’s starting to grow on me. It’s also starting to spill on me. Stupid fish taco. This stain better come out.
• I’m halfway through season six of Buffy, and even though the thought of Buffy and Spike together intrigued me at first, it now disgusts me. Also, how come when the show moved to UPN, it got trashier? The love scenes between Buffy and Riley, Buffy and Angel, etc. never seemed as trashy as Spike and Buffy. *shudder*
• The Wiggles.
• Dear Megan Fox, please put on some clothes and learn how to act.
• Facebook and Twitter are both bugging the snot out of me lately. They’re way too slow.
• Usually, when I see American remakes of Asian horror movies, I prefer the original. The only time this wasn’t the case was with Ju-On/The Grudge. The biggest reason I disliked the original was the pacing and the subplots. I’m finally getting around to seeing The Grudge 2, and it’s starting out with the most annoying subplot from Ju-On. Ugh.
• I got in a full-on argument with someone about a month ago about the fact that Little Shop of Horrors was not pre-cast. He swore it was, and told me some of the people who had been pre-cast. When he found out that I was the music director and that I had just recently talked to the director about it, he backed off and said that maybe I was right. I found out that just before auditions last week, he was STILL telling people that it was pre-cast. Out of all the rumors I heard about pre-casting, only one person ended up being cast the way it was rumored. However, she was not pre-cast. she was treated just like everyone else who auditioned. A few days after auditions, people were whining on Players Anonymous about how the show was precast. Ugh. Grow up. You didn’t get a part. Move on.

I think that’s it for now. I’m thoroughly creeped out by The Grudge 2. I think I’m going to stop it and go watch Buffy until I fall asleep. I’ll finish it when I’m not so tired. God bless On Demand.

Things You Should Know About Me

I wrote most of this blog a couple weeks ago. Then I added stuff about a week ago. Then Windows Live Writer wouldn’t post it when I tried, and I forgot. Then I panicked and thought nobody cared because of the next paragraph. Just so you know. :) It better post this time.

I’m contemplating making my blog password protected. In fact, I’m pretty darn sure I will. It’s just a matter of time. If you want to keep being able to read it, you should probably comment on this blog with your e-mail address so I can invite you to it when I switch over. (Maybe this is a ploy to get comments. You may never know…) Or you could just e-mail me (j.showgren@gmail.com, but with no period after the j).

From here on out, some things could very well be lies. Heads up. I’m sick and cranky, and that just might make me dishonest. If you can correctly identify which ones are lies, than you win the prize of an Air-Head candy the next time I see you.

I know a lot about music. I don’t do lyrics, though. I can listen to a song 30 times in a row and remember no more than a handful of words and no real phrases.

I’m actually a pop culture freak (as the rest of this blog will attest). You don’t want to play me in any pop culture trivia games. You also don’t want to argue with me over stupid pop culture tidbits.

One time, I bought a plastic snowman face that’s supposed to fit over a porch light. I bought it because I thought it looked like something a serial killer would wear in a BAD horror b-movie, and when I tried it on in the store to scare Kimber, I couldn’t stop laughing. I’ve never done anything with it. It’s sitting in my bedroom, collecting dust.

The tip of my nose is uneven. I would use the word “lopsided” if it didn’t make me sound like a circus freak.

I hate all of the stupid quizzes people keep taking on Facebook. It kind of makes me want to throw things. I’ve “hidden” so many quizzes, but they keep multiplying like wet Gremlins.

I sincerely believe that everything in life can be related to Friends or Saved By the Bell. Or both. I can probably kick your trash at Friends Scene-It, unless your name is Lindsay. And I could probably kick your trash in a Saved By the Bell version, unless your name is Matt.

I’m starting to go blonde, about 1/2 inch around my face only. It looks like I’ve bleached it. It’s perfectly symmetrical, and it goes all the way to the roots. It’s a little weird. (Since last week, I have cut my hair, and it’s not quite as weird-looking now.)

Until the new movie came out, I seriously contemplated getting the rights to revive Friday the 13th. As a stage musical. You would have come to see it, and you would have loved it. I may still do it someday, in which case, you should probably remember that since I’m publishing my idea here, if you steal it, I’ll sue the pants off you.

I hate summer colds worse than probably anything in the world. It’s just not right, and fairly oxymoronic. (Cold is still here.)

I once danced with Fred Astaire. Ginger had a summer cold, so I filled her spot.

I sometimes download “a capellas” which are meant for DJ’s to use in mixing, and then I create my own accompaniments for them. Then I can say things like, “Oh, yeah. I worked with Kelly Clarkson on this arrangement” or “OneRepublic was SO easy to work with” or “Eminem was surprisingly eloquent and didn’t swear AT ALL around me. I found that to be very respectful.”

I could go to Disneyland several times a year and never get sick of it. Every time I go, I try to do something I’ve never done before or see something I’ve never seen. This last time, I rode on the Golden Zephyr at California Adventure for the first time ever.

I have major butterflies in my stomach right now, and it’s all due to a certain girl.

I’ve heard the song “Don’t Stop Believin’” in some form at least 50 times in the past two weeks.

The voices of the following singers make me uncomfortable: Katy Perry, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman.

Even though I don’t like her voice, I love Katy Perry’s song “I Kissed a Girl.”

Despite stinking at lyrics, I know most of the words to the song “Friends and Lovers” – for which I fully blame my sister, Lori.

I’m tired and going to bed.

Happiness Is…

Downloading multiple covers of “Holiday Road.” I was looking for Lindsay Buckingham’s version, but instead found 4 completely different but equally interesting ones.

Having a good final dress rehearsal for Charlie Brown. The tech this year is already better after one day than it was after the entire week last year.

Seeing Heidi and Holly this weekend for a few minutes.

Glenn’s homemade burritos. Even though they cause HORRIBLE gas. TMI, maybe?

Dum-Dums!

Uncle Buck on DVD.

John Hughes movies in general.

Another tentative job interview is scheduled. I should be hearing back about the last one any day now.

GRADUATION IS A WEEK AND A HALF AWAY!!!

Letters

Dear IRS,

I had to pay less than I ever have this year. That was nice. I hope you enjoyed my check with The Flash on it.

Sincerely,

Jeremy

*********

Dear Utah State Tax Commission,

I had to pay more than I EVER have to you this year. Literally 10 times more than last year. I hate you. I hope you got the message I was sending with the Wonder Woman check.

Hatefully yours,

Jeremy

*********

Dear Former Students,

I give up. I don’t know how to make you care. I don’t understand how you can claim to be “drama nerds” and yet you don’t give a flying #$%* about your work. Granted, there are a handful of you who really do care, and it shows. I helped you get to state, but I can’t hold your hand and drag you any longer. I officially don’t care any more. Even if your show IS kick-@$$. I will come to see the show on Friday, but I refuse to spend two hours on a bus with you. Especially after the shrewish girls were so rude and disrespectful to me and left while I was trying to give notes tonight. Also the kid who keeps forgetting things snapped at me when I asked him if he had placed all of his props and was ready to go on, and then walked on WITHOUT THE EFFING MONKEY’S PAW because he “forgot” to get it. The show is now officially called The Empty Hand. I hope you do well at state, even though I know full-well that you won’t learn any lesson about teamwork and investing in your work.

With next-to-no-love,

Mr. Showgren

*********

Dear Future Students,

Heads up: if you don’t care about our shows, I won’t either. I will cancel them, punks! PLEASE don’t make me get to that point. I haven’t met you yet, but I believe in you!

Cordially,

Mr. Showgren

*********

Dear Makers of the Movie Airplane!

Thank you. Thank you SO much. I’m probably going to stay up WAY too late tonight watching your product, and it is much needed.

Seriously,

Shirley

*********

Dear Career Services Department,

Thank you so much for the scolding form letter (for which you graciously took the time to add my name to the Word document) about how I missed an appointment for an interview. I’m so glad you recommended that I write a letter of apology to the interviewer, because I didn’t already think to do that on my own. Nor did I send it a week ago, right after I found out that you hadn’t canceled my appointment per my request. Thank you for that! At least if I had been smart enough to send a letter on my own, I also would have been smart enough to point out that it was YOUR fault I missed the appointment. If it messes up my chances of getting hired in either district for which you’ve now messed up my cancelations, I will be sure to send you a scolding form letter. I may go the extra mile, though, and save the letter as a more personal pdf, and not just a doc.

Sod off,

Jeremy

*********

Dear Amazon,

I’m getting antsy waiting for my Doubt and The Spirit blu-rays. I’m also getting antsy waiting for my Pride and Prejudice and Zombies book. I ordered all of these weeks ago. I understand that you can’t ship them until they’re released, but they’ve all been released now. Also, I got a shipping notice for Doubt over a week ago. Why isn’t it here yet? I’m sending Sister Aloysious after you.

Impatiently,

Jeremy

*********

Dear Charlie Brown Cast,

Keep up the good work. You’re making progress. Make the progress FASTER now, please. Also brace yourself: tomorrow is the annual “Jeremy has fun with sound effects on the track” day.

Happily,

Jeremy

*********

Dear Disneyland,

See you in a month and a half!

Excitedly yours,

Jeremy

*********

Dear Blog Readers,

I’m sorry you had to slug through all of that. Today really sucked, and I had to get it out somewhere. Thanks for indulging me.

Love,

Jeremy

Blargh!

This may make absolutely no sense. It's another really tired/stream of consciousness post.

Sometimes, I think I'm really clever and post a year in review blog, and then find out that Chris Clark beat me to the punch. And now it looks like I stole his idea, and I'm one of the many other groupies that do everything to be just like him. At least I know that I started writing mine last week in Word, and if anyone questions me, I have the file to prove it.

I'm watching Run, Fatboy, Run and I'm pleasantly surprised. I think that's what happens when I have really low expectations. Also, Simon Pegg is one funny man. Because of him, I might actually see the new Star Trek. I'd see it for J.J. Abrams, but I'm still angry at him over Fringe.

For Christmas, Teri gave me a gift card to Build-a-Bear and a Batman costume for a bear. Today, we went to build my bear. His name is Bruce, and he growls like a tiger. You may think that a tiger growl coming out of a panda bear is a little ridiculous, but it's really no more ridiculous than Christian Bale's Batman voice.

I really like my new phone. Especially the camera part. It takes AWESOME pictures. It drains the battery to take such awesome pictures, though. I don't like that part so much.

I sure do like How I Met Your Mother. I think it was Entertainment Weekly that I was reading where a critic said that it was as good as Friends. I don't agree, and I think he was just saying that because it was a cool thing to say. However, I rather enjoy that show. And I may or may not have a small crush on Cobie Smulders. Mostly when she's dressed as Robin Sparkles, though. Speaking of Robin Sparkles, I introduced Bristol to "Let's Go To the Mall" today. He rather enjoyed it, so I promised him we could watch the music video the next time he comes over.

My nephew Traven is a crazy dancer. I was at his house for a minute the other night, and his dad put on Little Einsteins, which is apparently like American Bandstand for toddlers. He was freaking out like Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt in Girls Just Want to Have Fun. And his dance moves are getting quite advanced. He was doing a kind of pelvic thrust while his left hand was waving up and down, and his right hand was turning in the air like he was lassooing. I bet he can dance better than any other 1 year old, and if I were his parent, I'd totally be pimping that on some kind of reality show.

I have a huge internet crush right now. It's not like a creepy one, like where I have to worry that she's really a 50 year old man named Harold or anything. I've spent time with her in person, and while I thought she was cute and fun, it's her web persona that really gets me. It's kind of Shop Around the Cornerish. Except instead of letters, we use the internet. Someone should make a movie about that. And Edith Bunker can be her cute old surrogate mother.

Do people with other accents dislike their native accent as much as I do? I hate the way people in Utah talk. HATE.

The seafood enchilada I had for dinner made a big deal on the menu about how it had "real" crab meat. This leads me to be suspicious that it was not, in fact, "real". Also, the fact that I keep burping up the taste of pollock. That's pretty much strike three against that restaurant. I highly DON'T recommend Mi Ranchito on State Street in Sandy.

I finally found a copy of Lemony Snicket's A Lump of Coal today. I'm going to read it before bed. I actually found a few of them, so Teri bought one, too. Had I just found one, I would have kept it for myself. I'm very selfish that way.

I really want to go see The Spirit again. If I get time to see the other movies I wanted to see this week, I just might. Wanna come?

Near.....Far!

Hooray! It's one of Jeremy's random blogs where he just lists things that make him happy/pleased and sad/angry. (Sometimes, it feels like that's all he does, actually...) Tonight's blog is brought to you by Grover. And the letter Z.

• The TV show Fear Itself. The first and second episode were so-so, but the third and fourth are AWESOME. I just watched the last three straight, when I should have been going to bed. I can't get enough. James Roday as a possible serial killer? BRILLIANT. (I finished that episode while I was writing this blog, and holy cow!)


• WALL-E was great. I was worried that I wouldn't like it, especially since I was so disappointed by Ratatouille. However, it was awesome. Best love story I've seen in a while, and best Pixar since Nemo.


• Family night with Teri and Bristol: we really do look like a family, and then we do strange things like split checks or go to different registers in the concessions line.


• People who take their toddlers to movies and then let them sit and fuss/scream for a full hour before taking them out really: HONESTLY.


• I only had 2 classes this last semester, but I got a 4.0. That's my first since being admitted into the education program. The previous two semesters, I got all A's and one B+ each. And the B+'s were in the stupid education classes. However- both classes this semester were education classes. I've finally broken the education curse.


• Teaching "vocal basics" classes for a youth theatre festival: I had it confirmed by a raise of hand that NONE of the kids from a certain local youth theatre know how to support or even what it is. Most of them also don't know how to breathe correctly while singing. How in the crap do you claim to teach your kids musical theatre if you don't teach them the bare essentials?!


• Recording Charlie Brown is really fun. I'm working really fast, and I'm liking everything I've come up with so far.


• I have two more shows lined up to "score." One is like a silent movie that I really will be underscoring, essentially. The other is just a play that I'll be pulling incidental music for. Both of them are for directors who I really like working with (in this capacity).


• I can now say I've music directed not only all over Utah County, but essentially the entire "Green Jell-O Belt" thanks to Saturday's Warrior. I've music directed for at least 8 theatres/companies that I can think of off the top of my head. However, there is one theatre that I've been dying to music direct at for YEARS. That theatre is doing not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 of my favorite musicals of all time in the near future, and it kills me that they have never asked me to MD for them. As much as I'm loving my break right now, if they asked me to MD one of those shows, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's a lot easier to commit to an MD job than acting, because I don't have to be to EVERY rehearsal and performance.


• My nephew Zach is visiting, and he's so cuddly that it kills me. If his mother knew he was hugging me, reading with me, and playing with me so much, she'd choke. Hmm...maybe I should let her know...
  
• I get really tired of friends who guilt me all the time for not talking to them more and not making time for them, and yet they won't even read my stinking blog. Then when I see them, they expect me to fill them in on everything, when they could have just been reading it all along. Not that I expect everyone to read my blog, because frankly, if it wasn't my own, I probably wouldn't read it. But come on! If you think you have the right to guilt me for not seeing you more, then I expect you to at least read a stupid website. Especially when you spend a lot of time on the computer anyway, and when you have tried to guilt me for not looking at your own websites and shtuff.

I'm really tired now, so I think I'm heading to bed. Goodnight, Gracie. Goodnight, Moon. Goodnight, John Boy. Goodnight, Grover!!!

Wish List #2

• To know everything about the future of Lost. Waiting a whole year for new information is going to kill me. At least I'm going to have some free time soon, in which I plan to rewatch the complete series to this point.
• To be able to do the play I'm wanting to audition for. Especially after the director basically begged me to be in it.
• More time to socialize. Woot for Saturday's Warrior/The White Star opening this weekend!
• For the two people who said they'd help me out with an assignment that is now 4 days overdue to come through. Or at least one of them. Guh!
• A better sleep schedule.
• To see The Dark Knight and The X-Files: I Want To Believe NOW!!!!
• For Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to say "Just kidding!" and then reveal the REAL ending to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Bonus: for the real ending to involve ancient Mormon lore. :)
• More fun parties with people like Amanda and Elwon, Mitch, and Nana. (The other people there were fun, but I see them more often.)
• Success with the one last hope of anything being recovered off my harddrive.

My Wish List...

...for this moment in time. If you can provide any of these things, please do. And God bless you.

• A no homework guarantee for the rest of the summer semester. It's all stinking busywork. I hate it. If it was stuff I didn't already know how to do, I wouldn't mind.
• A good role in a good play at a good theatre. With an awesome director.
• A good makeout session with any (or all) of the following: Kelly Clarkson, Reese Witherspoon, Jenna Fischer, Alicia Silverstone, Emily VanCamp, Elizabeth Mitchell, Evangeline Lilly, Yunjin Kim, and oddly enough, Kristen Wiig.
• Songs by the following artists for Rock Band: The Beatles, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, The Rembrandts, The Fray, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, and Dashboard Confessional.
• A Batman trailer hitch plug.
• More free nights.
• Motivation to write.
• More time in New York in July.
• Better seats for South Pacific. So I can actually see Kelli O'Hara.
• To meet Kelli O'Hara after South Pacific.
• Time/desire to read more.
• More time for a social life.
• An orchestra score to follow me wherever I go. Complete with motifs based on the people I see on a regular basis.
• A greenhouse full of plants with googly eyes.

I think that's it for now. I may add things as I see fit.

Blogging for Blogs Sake

(I tried to put an apostrophe in the title, but it wouldn't let me...)

I haven't blogged in a LONG time, and I'm purposely avoiding homework right now but must have SOMETHING to do whilst watching Firefly, so I thought I might as well write something. Especially since I suck at keeping journals, and years from now, this blog is probably the only record I'll have of my life...

When our hero last blogged, he was preparing to open Kiss Me, Kate and going to see Harry Potter. Here's a rundown of what's happened in the last month or so:

Kiss Me, Kate was awesome. It was a great experience, despite having to deal with some of the biggest divas I've ever worked with in theatre. Seriously. Mind you, MOST of the cast was fantastic, and I miss them already. But there were a few bad apples (3, to be exact) who I wanted to strangle every time I looked at them, and they almost ruined the show for me. However, despite divas, horrible tech, and bad reviews, the show was fantastic. I'm VERY proud of the final product.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was also fantastic. It's officially my 2nd favorite Harry Potter book. I was pleased with almost every aspect. I got teary-eyed many more times than I care to admit. Here is my official ranking of Harry Potter books:
1) The Prisoner of Azkaban
2) The Deathly Hallows
3) (Tie) The Sorceror's Stone
3) (Tie) The Order of the Phoenix
5) The Half-Blood Prince
6) The Goblet of Fire
7) The Chamber of Secrets
I can't believe we have to wait three more years for the movie of Deathly Hallows. Guh.

I just started rehearsals for High School Musical, which is quite possibly the cheesiest musical ever written. The movie is seriously terrible. Luckily, the stage musical has been fixed up somewhat. And, Mindy is directing, and so going into it, we KNOW it's cheesy, and we'll embrace it- as opposed to trying to pass it off as serious. I was starting to get excited about the show after auditions and our first production meeting, and even after my first night of rehearsing with the leads. And then we had our first ensemble music rehearsal on Saturday. Good gosh. There are at least 80 kids in the cast (only a handful of 20-somethings, the majority are between 14-19), and I'm pretty sure at least 10 of them won't live to see the show open. They can't shut up. I had to get downright ornery with them, which I haven't had to do at a rehearsal in YEARS. I really am going to go certifiably insane before this is over...

I'm starting to count down the days to school starting, and NOT in a good way. I was looking forward to a relaxing summer, but it seems like I'm every bit as stressed as I was all through the school year. Blargh.

We had our first ever summer vocal classes with CSYP the last two weeks. They were great. The coolest thing in the world is having a room full of teenagers singing "Being Alive" with all the emotion the song deserves. The second coolest thing in the world is having a room full of kids between the ages of 7-12 singing "I Know Things Now" and getting excited about it. Of course, I didn't tell them that the song is a metaphor for losing one's virginity. They just thought it was all about Red Riding Hood being swallowed by the Wolf. Ssh! It's our little secret.

I'm going to The Fray on Tuesday night with Matt and Emily Smith. I'm so stinking excited. It'll be my second time seeing them this year. There is no band on Earth right now that I love more.

Then, first thing Wednesday morning, I'm going to the Oregon coast to visit my Uncle Dean for the first time in 17 years. I'm really excited about that as well. It will be my first real vacation in a year and a half. And that last vacation was miserable and exhausting, so I'm not going to count it. It was more of a trip. Anyhoo, we'll be staying in a suite on the beach- which I could NOT be any more stoked about. Let's just hope that my dad doesn't fight with everyone the whole time and make us all miserable. *fingers crossed*

My new music obsession is Robin Thicke. Usually, with guys like that, I just want to say "Dude! You're white! Sound like it!" But for some reason, his music brings me joy. Maybe it's because his parents are Jason Seaver and the chick who sang the theme to The Facts of Life. Maybe it's because he sampled "A Fifth of Beethoven." Either way- check him out if you haven't already.

The movie Hairspray was incredible. I went with Matt, Emily, Kaylee, Teri, Sami, Brooke, and Bristol last week, and I still can't get over how good it was. I even pestered my brother Glenn to go- and he loved it. We're going to try and force my mom to go when we get back into town. I think she'd love it. And she hasn't been to a movie in at least 20 years, so I think it would be good for her.

I've been trying to catch as many movies as possible this summer, because once school starts, I won't be able to see many. Ocean's 13 was downright incredible (when compared with the joke that was Ocean's 12). 1408 was LAME. Pirates was decent- much better than the second one, but still nowhere near as good as the first. The Simpsons Movie was pretty good. To promote it, they've been hosting a site where you can get "Simpsonized." Matt told me about it a while ago, and I've been trying to do it, but every time I've tried, their server has been so full that it hasn't let me. I finally got it to work today. I don't think it's THAT representative of me, but I didn't want to take the time to tweak it that much other than just changing shirt color and making my ears bigger and a couple other little things.

I think that's all I have to share right now. Enjoy this video that Matt introduced me to. I love it.

Best Week Ever!

So, I stole the title of this blog from a TV show, because I couldn't think of anything more clever. It really has been a good week, though.

Monday, I got to see Jann after MONTHS since the last time I saw her. And we watched Coupling and I remembered why I love that show. And I got to torture a telemarketer. Hehehe.

Tuesday, I got to have weekly Six Feet Under night with Matt, Melinda, and Lindsay (Dave had to work, but hopefully his schedule will change soon so he can jump back into it with us.)

Wednesday, I stayed home and relaxed.

Thursday, I spent the evening with Heather & David. We made the most AMAZING blackened chicken, tomato, bacon, and alfredo pizza, and then we went to see X-Men: The Final Stand.

Friday, I spent the evening with Emily D. (another friend who I don't see NEARLY enough) and we saw Stick It (which was better than I thought, but still no Bring It On).

And then tonight, I got to spend time with Wendy & Dave, Laurel & David, and for a little while, some of Wendy's family. Good gosh! It's been a LONG time since I've spent that much time with the Rushes/Lowes, and you know what? It was a blast. I introduced all of them to The Office, and they loved it. Wendy is SO pregnant. She's due in exactly one week, although he may come sooner. She had me take a picture of her to show Melinda how pregnant she is (in response to a text from Mindo tonight), but I decided to just post it in my blog, since there are others who read this that know her.

Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve such great friends. Even when I'm going through a self-declared "selfish phase". And I know it probably gets irritating that half of my blogs are about how grateful I am for friends, but you know what? There are MUCH more annoying things that I could blog about.