Rush at the Maverik Center

I think there are two kinds of people in the world:  those who are absolutely fanatical about the band Rush and know every word to every song and see them play live every chance they get and then there are those who just don't get it. I am definitely one of the former but we are a select group.  During some down time at a debate meet when I was in high school, a guy on my team who I didn't know very well mentioned that he had tickets to an upcoming Rush concert but didn't have anyone to go with.  I immediately begged asked him to take me.  He was surprised to learn that I liked Rush and we spent the rest of the debate meet talking about our favorite songs while everyone else on the team looked at us like we were crazy.  He took me to the concert and we were inseparable for the rest of the year.  (Tom Irvin if you are out there, that was one of the best concerts of my life!)  That was the first time I saw them live and I have since seen them every time they've come to Salt Lake City.  When I learned that the R40 Tour, celebrating forty years of performing with the same line-up of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, would most likely be their last major tour, I definitely had to be there.  I bought tickets as soon as they went on sale which was during one of my classes.  None of my students even knew who Rush was except for one of the coolest kids in the class who practically begged me to buy him a ticket (for the record, I didn't because that would be weird).  He and I spent a fair amount of class time talking about our favorite songs while the rest of the students shook their heads.  A select group, indeed.  Last night's show was amazing!  They began in reverse chronological order with some of their newest songs from Clockwork Angels and continued through their eponymous first album.  My favorite section was the middle when they played "Distant Early Warning," "Subdivisions," "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," and "The Spirit of Radio."  I also really loved the phantasmagorical light and sound show during several sections of "Cygnus X-1" and "2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx," which are some of their more atmospheric and narrative compositions.  All I can say is that it was amazing with an incredible laser show in syncopation with the music and at times I felt like I was floating in space.  Some other fun moments included celebrity rappers on a giant screen during "Roll the Bones" and two double neck guitars on "Xanadu."  The end of the concert was really nostalgic with "Closer to the Heart" and their traditional encore, "Working Man."  I loved how the stage configuration changed from set to set to represent their history.  At first it was a spectacular arena show with all of the bells and whistles, including jets of fire.  Then stage hands dressed in jumpsuits began removing amplifiers and other set pieces as the show progressed.  The second set looked more like a theater and by the encore it was just the three of them with a drum kit.  I loved every minute of it!

Note:  I really missed Tony when they played "One Little Victory" because it was one of his favorite songs.  Tony and I went to a lot of Rush concerts together; in fact, that was how he got me to go out with him!  He had asked me several times but I didn't want to go out with him because we worked together.  When he mentioned going to a Rush concert, I couldn't resist (it also made Tony seem a lot more appealing knowing he belonged to the select few).  He would have loved this concert!

Leadership Conference 2015

 This week I went with the HHS Student Body Officers and Class Officers to a leadership conference at Dixie State University in St. George.  I was so happy to leave the chaos of my life behind and I had so much fun with them!

We had time to plan for the 2015-2016 school year (but I think they are just plotting against me here).

We participated in an amazing activity called "Break Through" where the students literally broke a one-inch thick board with their bare hands.  We did this activity last year and those officers were very affected by it so I was really looking forward to having this group go through the experience.  It was amazing!  This year they made the advisors do it, too!  I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to break it but we are all more powerful than we can even imagine and we can channel that power if we choose to!

Yeah.  They all have more personality than they know what to do with!  They were singing, chanting, and playing games everywhere we went which made them extremely popular with the other schools (you should have seen all of the other schools saying goodbye to them yesterday!)  They kept me laughing all week!  Also, aren't those shirts fabulous?  My friend made them for us!

There was a really fun poster making workshop where they learned some cool chalk techniques!  I thought their poster turned out amazing!

We got to see Beauty and the Beast at the Tuacahn Amphitheater.  The majority of them had never been to a live theatre performance before and it was beyond thrilling for me to watch their reaction to this show!  It was a magical production and the two lead actors were incredible!

We had the opportunity to perform some community service at the Utah Food Bank in St. George.  It was a great experience.

Our assistant principal took us all to dinner at Chili's and it was delicious!

We also had some great keynote speakers, round table discussions, and workshops and we got to participate in a spirit bowl, a black light dance, Dixie Idol (a talent show), and a swim party.  It was a really fun week!  Thank you Dixie State University for showing us such a great time!

Of course we had to make a stop at Swig on the way out of town!

Terminator

Another obscure movie (see here and here) that seemed to be on cable all the time, especially late at night, when I was a teenager was The Terminator.  I loved this movie and watched it over and over.  Once again I had my friend Michael, who worked at Blockbuster, special order me a copy (he was a great friend to have in the days before Amazon).  It became a cult classic which spawned three sequels that I vaguely remember liking at the time.  Terminator: Genisys  (why must words be intentionally misspelled for effect?), the fifth installment, is not so much a sequel as it is a reboot with an alternate reality made possible by the quirks of time travel much like J.J. Abrams' reboot of the Star Trek franchise.  Because someone (who?) sent a reprogrammed T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) through time to save her as a nine-year-old, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) is no longer the frightened waitress in need of Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) to protect her in 1984.  She is not only ready to fight the T-800 and T-1000 (if Skynet had the T-1000, why was the T-800 still sent?), but she has also constructed a makeshift time machine (how?) to travel to 1997 to stop Skynet from becoming self-aware.  However, these events trigger a change in the timeline postponing Judgement Day until 2017 when a global operating system called Genisys goes online.  Reese persuades Sarah to travel to 2017 where they are rescued from police custody by John Connor (Jason Clarke) and then must simultaneously battle a T-3000  and destroy Genisys in some epic action scenes.  The events in 1984 are extremely clever and I loved seeing the scenes from the original film meticulously recreated.  I literally giggled out loud when Sarah said the iconic line, "Come with me if you want to live," instead of Reese.  The explanation of why the T-800 looks old is also absolutely genius.  While I certainly prefer Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn as Sarah and Reese, respectively, Clarke and Courtney hold their own and having Schwarzenegger, who will always and forever be "The Terminator," reprise his role is perfect.  Even my unanswered questions didn't detract from my enjoyment because it is just so fun.  Having said that, the events in 2017 infuriated me!  Without going into detail, a cornerstone of the entire mythology is completely (and unnecessarily, in my opinion) shattered!  I could hardly bear to watch the second half of the film, although, as I mentioned, the action scenes are intense and I did like the resolution between Sarah and Reese at the end.  So, in some ways, I quite enjoyed the new timeline but...

Note:  In the battle of the 1980s movie sequels, Mad Max: Fury Road is definitely winning, in my opinion.  It will be interesting to see how Star Wars: The Force Awakens is received.  Also, in an attempt to downsize, I recently donated all of my VHS tapes to a thrift store.  Sorry, Michael!

Escape to the Mountains

As I was leaving my house so an agent could show it yesterday morning, I received two more texts requesting more showings.  For those of you keeping score, that meant three showings back-to-back which would require me to be out of my house for three hours.  I was headed to the library, which has become my daytime go-to place to hang out and read while these showings are going on, but three hours?  I turned my car in the direction of the mountains!

I love driving through the mountains with the windows down, the music loud, and the breeze cool on my face.  It was so peaceful and relaxing.

Since I was in American Fork Canyon, I had to make a quick stop at Cascade Springs!  I feel a little bit like Anne of Green Gables because every summer I have to visit all of my favorite places.  Instead of the White Way of Delight, I have Cascade Springs!

I had the whole place to myself for quite a while and I loved listening to the sound of the water.  It was a lovely morning!

A Little Chaos

I have been seeing previews for A Little Chaos for weeks and the lush period piece about the making of the gardens at Versailles with opulent costumes and noteworthy actors caught my attention immediately.  I couldn't wait to see it!  After all of the anticipation I was left a little bit underwhelmed after I saw it Monday night.  Master gardener Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts) has been given the monumental task of creating the gardens at Versailles by Louis XIV (Alan Rickman), a capricious monarch who demands perfection.  He interviews other gardeners to help him and is intrigued by Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) because she is a woman and because she does not conform to the traditional (and formal) rules of gardening.  She is selected to create an outdoor amphitheater with fountains but is thwarted by work crews who resent taking orders from a woman and by Le Notre's jealous wife.  She also becomes a great favorite at Court, beguiling the King when she mistakes him for a gardener, and begins a romantic relationship with Le Notre.  Despite the setbacks, the garden is a triumph.  I'm not entirely sure why I didn't love this movie.  The performances are outstanding, especially Winslet.  I also really enjoyed Stanley Tucci as the outrageously flamboyant Duc d'Orleans and Jennifer Ehle as the King's mistress, Madame de Montespan.  I loved the scenery in the gardens and in the palaces of the Louvre and Fontainebleau and, of course, the costumes are gorgeous.  It is, without a doubt, a beautiful movie.  However, the plot is very predictable and the pacing is slow.  One of the best scenes between Winslet and Rickman (it's as if we are able to witness what happens to Marianne and Colonel Brandon after their marriage in Sense and Sensibility), while touching, is highly improbable.  A Little Chaos is a good costume drama but I think it takes more than just beautiful images on the screen to make a great film.

Note:  Matthias Schoenaerts seems to be everywhere lately.  While I liked his performance in Far From the Madding Crowd more, I found him to be quite appealing in this film.  I think men should wear their hair long.  Just my opinion...