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!

(Musical) Happiness Is...

The other night, I was having a rough rehearsal. I was feeling really bad about myself. My throat was sore (dumb allergies), and I couldn't sing to save my life. Then, I didn't really get good feedback after the run, which solidified how I was feeling. I left rehearsal with my head down, feeling like a picked-on Charlie Brown.

I got in my car, and randomly flipped through playlists and put one on shuffle. Within a few songs, I was completely happy and positive about life. In the past, I've had playlists for angry music and sad music, but never happy music. I decided to change that. I'm in the process of compiling songs that can make me happy no matter how upset I am. Some are genuinely happy songs, others just have good memories associated with them. In any event, I figure that if I can keep them together on one playlist, it'll be like my own musical anti-depressant. When it's all done, I'll probably share my list on here (and by "probably," I mean there's only a slight chance).

In the meantime, here are a few of the songs (and I got DIRTY looks for blasting the second one with the windows down in the drive-thru line at Del Taco):

When Heather Was Young

Today is my friend Heather's birthday. She's as old as me, which makes her pretty dang old. Heather lives in New York, which is pretty far away. We only get to see her (& her husband, David, and son, Rhys) a couple times a year, which means we don't get to celebrate her birthday with her. So, in honor of Heather's birthday, I cranked out a fun new song accompaniment for her. (And she had BETTER feel special, because only two other people have had this honor...)



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEATHER!!!

(PS - I would have used the actual music video so it's more fun, but I had to hurry to get it up today.)

Instant Celebrity!!!

Content warning: this blog is long and churchy. If you’re not familiar with the LDS Church, you might not understand everything I talk about, and I’m too lazy to make a glossary right now.

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If you’ve talked to me much since I got married, then you know that one of the biggest problems I’ve had in that time has been mine and Lauren’s awful ward.

In the past 13 months, we’ve been officially home-taught 0 times. Lauren has never had an official visit from visiting teachers. (Note: our home teachers AND Lauren’s visiting teachers have reported that they have been visiting us.) We also don’t know our own HTing and VTing assignments. When Lauren has asked the RS Presidency for her assignment, they put her off, but then blame her for not knowing.

Whenever we have to miss Church, it’s REALLY hard to get anybody to agree to teach our Primary class, except for one mother who we feel bad about calling every time.

Many people in the ward will turn their heads and snub us when they pass us in the hall (including Bishopric members). When we went in for tithing settlement, the Bishopric member who was supposed to be there greeting everyone as they came spent the majority of the time talking on his cell phone to his mom, and then came to check the list to see who we were. When he read our names, he turned and walked back into the office.

That’s just a small sampling of the crap we’ve dealt with during our time in this ward.

Well, all that’s going to change now!

After 13 months of being shunned/avoided/ignored/mentally *****-slapped, everyone wants to be our friends now.

About one year ago, I was asked to play the organ in Sacrament one week. Our ward doesn’t have an actual organist calling for some reason, and people just volunteer to do it. On this week, apparently nobody who played was available. So, the music chairperson, whom I’d never met, called and asked me to do it. I obliged, and after the meeting, the chairperson cornered me. She praised my playing and told me that she was basically auditioning me by having me play. She played the organ herself, and she could have done it that day. She then asked if I would ever be willing to perform or help with special musical numbers in Sacrament. I told her I would be willing to do that. Then she told me it would be great if I’d join their roster of organists. I told her that I had a Primary calling, which meant that I wouldn’t be able to do postlude every week. I had both the organist calling and a Primary calling once in 2004, and when I would show up to Primary late, the kids would be rowdy. I told her I didn’t want to do that again. She got a little frustrated, and told me that I team teach with my wife, so I should let Lauren handle the kids.

I decided to be done with the conversation, and I said that if I didn’t have a Bishopric-issued calling, then I wouldn’t be an organist. She got a little more agitated and told me that the way they have the organists set up is great because it gives people a chance to practice their talents and share them when they’d like to. I countered with the fact that I don’t feel the need to share my talents when there are others who do, and if there are already at least 3 organists, then I clearly wasn’t needed. I told her that I would still be willing to help with any special numbers, and if they were in a jam, I would help with the organ again, but I would not become a regular organist.

She became very frustrated and short at that point, and basically told me that she was disappointed in my unwillingness to help.

I never spoke to her again.

She moved around October/November. A new music chairperson was not called until very recently, and shortly after she was called, she asked me to play in Sacrament.

This Sunday, I played a Michael R. Hicks arrangement of “Our Savior’s Love/I Feel My Savior’s Love.” It was a pretty good, though fairly simple arrangement. I didn’t want to do something too complex, since my weekend was spent on the Syd Riggs benefit concert (blog to come at some point, probably). It was impressive enough, I guess, that suddenly everybody in the ward wanted to be my friend. People came into my classroom as Lauren and I were setting up to talk to me. People who JUST LAST SUNDAY rolled their eyes when they walked into a room and saw me were suddenly wanting to shake my hand. Lauren was treated like a celebrity wife by other women in the ward.

I can certainly understand how the Kennedys feel.

It baffles my mind that people can flip that easily. I’ve NEVER been in such a weird/fickle/cliquish/divisive/awful ward before.

But, I took advantage of the opportunity. Since the EQP was talking to me, I confronted him (nicely) about the home teaching situation. AND! I now know who my companion is, and we should hopefully be getting new home teachers.

Lauren now knows her visiting teaching assignment, and one of her visiting teachers added her on Facebook today.

Things are looking up!

If only I would have been willing to share my talents a year ago, and not pissed off some old lady who apparently controlled the whole ward like a drug lord…

Just the Way You Are

Not QUITE as cool as Mr. Brightside, but I love this song all the same.

(Last one for this week, I swear. Also, if you're interested in an mp3 of any of the arrangements I've done, I'm happy to share through e-mail.)

I'M Mr. Brightside

Sidenote: I'm not very good at analyzing music videos, but is the story of this that Brandon and Eric are fighting over a whore, so they play a game of checkers, and when Eric wins, he gets the tramp?

This Is What Happens When I'm Bored

Last week, I had a day with no work projects lined up. Instead of being lazy and watching TV (like I was seriously tempted to do), I decided to do something productive and play around with some of my new recording software.

This is what I came up with.

Content Advisory: Katy Perry (enough said)

PS - if you know me well, you know that I HATE Katy Perry. But this song has really grown on me, because she actually uses her head voice, instead of trying to use her gutteral/strangled goat sound.

PPS - The strings actually sound pretty dang good when it's not compressed.

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!

Have You Seen This?!?!

If you haven't, you should. I can't decide if they're serious or not, and if they're really trying to celebrate Hanukkah or make fun of it.

Productivity Gets Its Trash Kicked

fI had THE MOST PRODUCTIVE weekend. Scratch that, WE had the most productive weekend. Lauren did as much as me, if not more.

Yesterday, we cleaned the crap out of our apartment. I also did a lot of reorganizing, gathering trash, etc. AND! My project of getting the pictures all hung on the wall? DONE.

After working our tails off all day, we sat down to watch Lost with our nephews.

Today, we had our first week of early church. BLECH. Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike my ward? Well, it’s not any better 4 hours earlier. It was a pretty rotten block today.

But when we came home…we cooked a great Italian dinner to break the fast, played the snot out of Lego Indiana Jones, completely overhauled my iTunes files and settings, spent a lot of time with more nephews and a niece… And Lauren finally saw the movie Clue for the first time (and she squeezed a nap in, too).

I feel like tomorrow, we should take a break from our labors (heh) and just relax. In actuality, we’ll probably just play more Lego games (I also introduced Lauren to Lego Star Wars tonight), and clean/reorganize our craft and office supply drawers.

Tuesday, I go back to recording and trying to actually do “real” work. But dang, this weekend felt good.

Sidenote: I don’t like the direction my blog is taking lately. I need to figure out how to change it.

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!!!

Informer

Sometimes this song comes on in the middle of the hellish techno/hip-hop mix known as Applebee's late night, and all is suddenly right in the world.



And maybe it makes me feel like I'm a kid again just to hear it...

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)

The Year of Concerts Comes To an End

When you use the word “to” in a title, do you capitalize it? I’ve found info on the net saying yes AND no. Oh, well.

Last night, Lauren and I went to see Mat Kearney. If you recall, I like him a whole lot. I’ve liked him for years – before he was on Grey’s Anatomy or whatever made him popular.

I hadn’t planned on going, mainly because it was general admission in a club. But, my love of his music (the non-rapping songs, anyway) and the fact that tickets were only $15 convinced me to suck it up.

The show was supposed to start at 7:30, and we didn’t get there until just after that. I had heard that there would be an opening act, and I wasn’t too thrilled about rushing up there to suffer through yet one more awful opening band this year. We found our spots on the floor (not too bad, considering the show should have been starting right then) and waited.

The opening band, Vedera, didn’t take the stage until after 8. By that time, I was getting annoyed. My back does not like me to stand in one place too long, and my mild claustrophobia doesn’t like me to stand in crowded rooms for too long. Plus, this meant Mat Kearney wouldn’t take the stage until at least 9, and we were in for a late night.

As soon as Vedera started to play, my orneriness subsided. They were GREAT! I really liked their stuff. Lauren did, too. We decided that we were getting their album, which I did tonight. Love it.

Crazy dancing girl liked them, too.

We first were introduced to her during the pre-show music. She has got to be one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen. She was “dancing” to the music, but was TOTALLY offbeat. Probably the most rhythmically challenged movement of all time. Then, the most insane thing happened. She started clapping to the music, and her claps were right on the beat – WHILE her body was grooving to its own rhythm. CRAZY!!!! I asked Lauren to pose for a weirded-out picture so I could get a shot of Crazy without being obvious, but right as I snapped it, she jerked mostly out of the frame.

See her off to the right there? CRAZY.

Anyway, we both loved Vedera, and I was actually a little bummed when they ended their set. Lauren was a good sport, too, when the singer kept making eye contact with me, especially during the slow songs. It probably didn’t help that right before she started looking at me, I had commented on how cute and spunky she was. Oops. Lauren said she wasn’t jealous, though. Best fiancée ever.

During the break after Vedera, we were introduced to people such as Whiny-Nasally-Voiced-Too-Short-Abercrombie-Model-Wannabe, who almost knocked Lauren down by trying to shove his way closer to the stage, and his friends – including Crazy Dancer. We were also introduced to a weird middle-aged couple who kept plugging their ears during the loud concert music. Oh, and the husband took his shoes off and was standing around in his socks on the nasty club floor. I thought Lauren was going to puke.

After a break that was MUCH too long, Mat Kearney took the stage. He was amazing. I was having a hard time standing around. My back was KILLING me. But it was worth it. Although, Mat was probably one of the most irritating artists when it came to my pet peeve of mentioning the name of the city where you’re playing. He not only mentioned Salt Lake over and over, but inserted it into several songs, and even improvised a rap about Salt Lake. UGH. White rap + city name dropping = annoyed Jeremy.

The concert was still amazing, though. The encore ended with a cover of Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark,” for which Mat brought Vedera onstage again to perform with his band. It was a great ending to the show and a great finale to my year of amazing concerts. I doubt I’ll ever have another year where I see this many concerts again, and that’s okay. I’m getting too old for it, anyway. Too much standing makes me feel like an old grandpa. But at least I keep my shoes on.

I’m Human, She’s Dancer

Last week, Lauren and I went to the Killers concert at the E Center.

It was FANTASTIC. I tweeted several times throughout the night, so I’ll include my tweets in this blog, too.

Matt and David carpooled with us, but they braved general admission, so they didn’t sit with us at the concert.

The evening began with a lovely dinner at Carl’s Jr. I had a tasty burger, as did Lauren – because it looked “safe.” Matt ate a low-carb burger, which was a burger wrapped in lettuce. He was craving carbs afterward, though, and ALMOST ate half of a bun that we had found in the flowerbed outside. I don’t remember what David ate, but I don’t really care, because he brought up the subject of my dancing in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

We got to the E Center and parked the car. On our way in, we saw a car parked very crookedly, with a message on the back window.

We were dying, and Matt insisted I take a picture. (You’re welcome, Matt!)

We got inside with plenty of time for the subpar opening act. Matt and David were in the middle of the floor, and we were on the second row just to the left of the stage. Pretty decent seats.

(Tweet: There's a girl in the opening band for Killers that looks just like my third grade teacher, Mrs. Nielsen. 7:32 PM Sep 26th)

At this point, I noticed that the guy in front of us had an iPhone, and it looked like he was on Twitter. I’m not usually that nosy (lie) but I thought “Hey, that guy he’s looking at on Twitter and pointing out to the girl with him looks like me. WAIT A MINUTE! That IS me!” I leaned forward, and saw that he had done a search on Twitter for “Killers” and turned up my profile because of my previous tweet. It was freaky. The guy got really annoying, though. He tweeted even more than I did that night.

The opening band was really lame, and they kept trying to be preachy. One of their songs had a really lame title, which they sang repeatedly, so of course I had to tweet in reference to the song “Listen to the Beat Come Down Like a Stone, So You Better Run, Run for Cover.” (That may not be the EXACT title, but you’d be surprised at how close it really is.)

(Tweet: I'm listening to the beat come down like a stone. And I really want to run. Run for cover. 7:50 PM Sep 26th)

After the opening act, there was a long intermission before Mariachi el Bronx took the stage.

At first, I was intrigued. It was a mariachi band that kind of rocked. After a couple songs, I was losing interest.

(Tweet: Done with mariachi. Killers now, please. 8:37 PM Sep 26th)

Then, the lead singer started spouting choice four-letter words. At one point, he had said enough of them that I turned to Lauren and told her that the concert was officially R-rated by MPAA standards.

One interesting thing about the concert was the audience. There were a lot of families there. Originally, I thought it was weird. Then, when the guy was swearing so much, I was kind of bugged, and I told Lauren that we were never bringing our kids to concerts like that. There were also typical concert-goers, including the woman whose tank-top was BARELY staying on. Lauren and I voted that nobody should wear tops like that- especially if they’re that large. I took a picture of her with the intent of posting it on my blog, but I’m going to be nicer and not post it here. It’s on my phone if you want to see it, though. :)

(Tweet: Pretty sure Hell's soundtrack consists of mariachi artists who think they're bad a. 8:41 PM Sep 26th)

Then, the coolest thing happened. The guy was swearing and trying to get praise, and people booed him. The guy got TICKED and said “You got a problem with us? It takes a lot of guts to get up here and play mariachi for your asses, so respect it!!!”

I thought I was going to die. I was laughing HARD. I had to text myself the exact quote for blogging purposes.

When they were FINALLY done, we had another long wait before The Killers finally came out. They opened with a really strong song (it wasn’t one I know really well) and then started the first four notes of the guitar riff from “Human.” Suddenly, Brandon stopped the rest of the band and said they had to clear the stage. He told us they’d be back. Some guy came out and said they were experiencing technical difficulties, and they would start again in 5 minutes.

(Tweet: RT @MatthewGSmith: Technical difficulties. Brandon and co had to leave the stage. Something dangerous? 9:28 PM Sep 26th)

After much longer than 5 minutes, they came back out and started “Human” again. They were BRILLIANT. And they played a nice, lengthy set, which made up for the crap. In fact, I didn’t tweet again the rest of the night because I was so entertained.

Throughout the Killers, I was blown away by how many of the middle-aged dads AND their kids were rocking out. I was really touched that they were able to share such a fun experience. I told Lauren that our kids ARE going to come to shows like this after all, because I’m going to take them. However, I don’t rock out and mosh like some of the dads…

After the show, Matt tried to lead us to my car, and he led us astray. I think it was due to a lack of carbs in his diet. David and I won the prize for finding the car, which we all then sat in for at least a half hour trying to get out of the parking lot. People are stupid.

We finally got out of there and eventually made it home.

It was an amazing concert, and a nice end to (*drumroll*) THE YEAR OF CONCERTS. I started trying to work out a ranking in my head for all the concerts I’ve seen this year, and then I decided to buy tickets for Mat Kearney’s return to SLC later this month, so THAT will have to be the end of (*drumroll*) THE YEAR OF CONCERTS. However, as of right now:

#1) The Fray with Jack’s Mannequin
#2) The Killers
#3) Keane with Mat Kearney
#4) Kelly Clarkson
#5) Rascal Flatts
#6) Jim Brickman
#7) Lonestar

I’m ranking strictly by show alone, and NOT the company I was keeping or the crappy people surrounding us that almost ruined them. Otherwise, Jim Brickman would be #1 because that was mine and Lauren’s first official(ish) date…

I’m glad I’ve had such an amazing year for concerts, and probably doubt I ever will again. Usually shows keep me from attending this many. But I’ve had my fill for a while – or at least until I have pre-teens of my own to take and corrupt with foul-mouthed mariachi bands.

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.

Somewhere Only We Know

Tuesday night, I got to go see Mat Kearney and Keane at Kingsbury Hall. It was a night full of adventure with trains, gypsies, and Hanson!

We started the evening late. It was Matt’s fault, and I made sure to remind him every chance I got. He met me 15 minutes later than he was supposed to, meaning we were 15 minutes late picking up Kevin & Mindi, 15 minutes late to dinner, and 15 minutes late to the actual concert. Darn Matt. Darn him to Heck.

Kevin (I believe) came up with the idea to go eat at the Gateway and then take Trax to campus for the show. We went to dinner at Z’Tejas, and it was MUCH better than I remembered it. With our bloated stomachs, we hobbled our way to the Trax station. I played “that creepy guy on Trax” during the ride. We learned in the middle of our trip that once you head up to campus, you leave the free ride zone. Oops!

When we got to Kingsbury, the show had already started. Luckily, it was some boring opening act. After them, there was a brief break, and then Mat came out. Holy crud, I love that guy’s music. He played a nice, lengthy set with most of my favorite songs from his first album and a handful of stuff from the new one, out next week.

Our seats weren’t the best, but we could hear everything pretty well, and I wasn’t deaf the next day like I was after Rascal Flatts.

During Mat’s set, a couple came in and sat in front of Matt and me. The girl had shoulder-length blonde hair, and the guy had spiky hair, and when they bobbed their heads, he looked eerily like a bobble head. When the lights came up after Mat, SURPRISE! Blondie was a guy! From the back, he looked just like a woman in the dark, and JUST like a Hanson brother in the light.

We were laughing our heads off, so of course we had to share with Mindi and Kevin. When Mindi got a text telling her to turn around (she was about 5 rows directly in front of us), the sweet, British, middle-aged couple next to Matt and me saw her, and they started laughing, too. They laughed when they saw Matt taking a picture of them, too.

Keane finally came out, and they were INCREDIBLE. Even better than the last time they were here. They played a great mix of songs from their three albums. I was a little bitter that they didn’t play my favorite song, “Snowed Under,” but I’ll live. The Hanson couple LOVED Keane. They knew every word and sang along (so did the British guy). The spiky-haired one would get so excited that he would randomly grab the other, like a little kid on Christmas. They also had some “moves” that they did in sync (it was reminiscent of Ross & Monica Gellar’s “routine”). You know those couples that are so cute, it’s sickening? That was them. I was video-taping some of the songs on my phone, and I couldn’t see the stage very well, so instead, I got them rocking out. Funny stuff.

Back to Keane. The lead singer, Tom Chaplin, was a ball of energy. He was bouncing all over the place. Is it any wonder (ha!) that he’s lost so much weight? They ended up playing for almost two hours. AMAZING. Between them and Mat Kearney, we more than got our money’s worth.

After the show, we headed to the Trax station at the stadium, which was deserted. I checked the schedule, and oops! Whaddya know. We missed the last train by almost a half hour. We all harassed Kevin for having the idea for Trax, when my original suggestion was to park at the stadium.

Kevin called two cabs, and finally, one of them got there. It was driven by a gypsy woman, who I officially named “Rosetta.”

We eventually made it to the Gateway, bid Rosetta farewell, retrieved my car, and went home.

It was a better show than Rascal Flatts, so that gives me hope that each concert I go to this year will be progressively better. Up next, Kelly. Then Jim Brickman, The Fray, and The Killers. I love this year for music.

Rosetta, if you’re out there, thanks for rescuing us! Hanson & friend, you guys were hysterical – thanks for the laughs. And since I’m pretty sure Mat Kearney and Keane read my blog, you guys were GREAT. Come back to Utah soon, please.

The REAL Slim Shady

Sometimes, I find high quality vocal tracks of popular songs on the internet.

Sometimes, I have funny ideas of how to make new accompaniments for them.

Sometimes, I have some free time, and I do it.

The only way I could figure out to share it on my blog was making it into a video. Oh, and be warned. It's the edited cut, but it's still highly offensive. God bless Eminem. At least the new orchestration makes him a little more classy.

We Thank Thee, O God

Back in February, I was accompanied my friend Wendy and her sisters for a concert. It was a great concert. If you ever want to hear the recording of it, let me know. Wendy’s brother-in-law recorded it, and it’s pretty good quality.

You may not have known about this, because my life was so consumed by student teaching at that point that I rarely blogged about anything else. Although, I looked it up, and I *did* blog about my future sitcom life the night of the concert.

Anyway, after the concert, Wendy’s sister, Laura, bumped into a man who had been at the concert. He told her he was organizing a banquet for President Monson, and asked her if she and her sisters would sing. They said yes, because of COURSE you say yes to the opportunity to perform for the man you believe to be the living prophet on Earth. They asked me to accompany them.

At first, I was hesitant. It was the same night as You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’s opening. There was also the annual TAG awards banquet the same night, but I’ve always missed that because they ALWAYS schedule that during youth theatre shows. ALWAYS. Could I bail on the kids for the opportunity to play a couple songs on the piano?

Turns out I could.

We rehearsed a couple times, and then showed up tonight to perform. I didn’t know all of the details. I just knew President Monson would be there. When I walked in, Wendy’s sister-in-law, Laurel, was calling me to see if I wanted salmon or chicken. I didn’t even realize we were going to be eating. Turns out it was a dinner honoring people for their contributions through print. They inducted President Monson and a handful of dead guys into the “printing hall of fame.”

We went through our songs, and then sat down. The dinner was supposed to start at 7, and we were supposed to be there at 6. They placed us at a table in the corner of the large hall, with a sign alerting everyone that we were musicians. We lived up to the stereotype of being unruly and crude, because we dug into our salads WAY before 7. We were literally the only people in the entire room eating. I blame the pregnant girls. They started it, and everyone else followed. Wendy’s brother, Dave, and I were the last ones to give in and eat.

After we finished our salad, and Laura apologized to the servers for eating so early (hehe!), President Monson arrived. He’s not as tall as I thought he’d be, and he looks older in person than he does on Conference in HD. They brought out our dinner, which looked like this:

I sure do love good salmon, and this was GOOOOOOOOOOOD.

As we ate, lots of old men (and a couple younger ones) talked about the history of printing. Then we were brought dessert, which looked like this:

It was no salmon, but I didn’t mind it. I didn’t eat all of it, though.

After the food, we performed. It was fantastic. The girls were AMAZING. Wendy and Laura sang “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” from The Phantom of the Opera, Julia and Laurel sang “Goodnight, My Someone” from The Music Man, and then all four sang “Pie Jesu” from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Requiem. President Monson likes showtunes, and he seemed pleased with the selections.

After hearing lots of people talk for what seemed like an eternity, President Monson spoke, which from our white trash table in the corner, looked like this:

He said a lot of cool things relating to printing, and then he talked about musicals. (Gosh, I love that man.) He talked about how he goes to all the musicals that come through town and he writes down what he believes to be the “key line” in each show on his Playbill. He shared a few examples. He also talked about how gorgeous Laurel’s high note at the end of “Pie Jesu” was and had her stand up. He then clapped for her, which made the rest of the room applaud. It was very classy and yet fun. He also mentioned A Christmas Carol and told us that the original manuscripts for that book are in the Church’s vault. Cool, eh?!

After he spoke, there was a beautiful number by a women’s acapella group from BYU (except I HATE the stereotypical breathy/80s pop “Mormon sound” – someday, I shall lead an LDS music revolution) and a closing prayer. Then we were asked to stay seated until President Monson had left. The second he was out of the room, we were up. I went out to the lobby, and saw him talking to some people. I TOTALLY could have gotten close enough to talk to him, but instead, I went to get the ladies to come and talk to him. By the time I was back, there were more people, and even though we followed him out to his car, we never got to talk to him. I was bummed.

On the way home, I stopped and got myself a vanilla Frosty, because dangit! I deserved it. I wasn’t able to finish it, but it was good until I was so full that I wanted to puke.

As a memento of tonight, I stole the card from my seat that let the servers know that I wanted the salmon. Is it wrong to steal when the Prophet is in the room? Crap. Maybe THAT’S why he didn’t come and talk to us. I ruined it for everyone. Oh, well. We’ll meet again, President Monson. Oh, yes. We’ll meet again…