Neil Young at USANA

I have a thing for Neil Young!  I saw him in 2000 during the CSNY2K Tour with Crosby, Stills, and Nash and when they sang "Old Man" it just about blew my mind.  Last year I learned that Neil Young would be performing at Red Rocks Amphitheater during the summer and I got really excited and decided to go (It is not unusual for me to go to Denver to see a concert).  Then I realized that the concert would be at the same time as the Leadership Conference for my officers and, no matter how I tried, I just couldn't make it work.  I was devastated.  I was devastated for months because I really wanted to see him!  Imagine my supreme happiness when I found out that he would be performing the same concert at the USANA Amphitheatre!  I found out about it after I got home from Australia and bought a ticket that same day!  The concert was billed as containing both old and new material with most of it coming from the album Earth which is very much informed by Young's environmental activism.  He came out, alone with just a spotlight, wearing exactly what you would expect: faded jeans, a fringed leather coat, and a black fedora.  He sat at a battered piano and sang "After the Gold Rush," then moved to center stage with a guitar and harmonica and sang "Heart of Gold" and "Long May You Run," and then moved to a fabulous church organ and performed "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)."  After that acoustic set, he was joined by Promise of the Real (who sounded a lot like Crazy Horse) and let's just say that they rocked the free world!  It was an amazing show and I especially loved "Harvest Moon," an epic 20 minute rendition of "Down By The River," "Cowgirl in the Sand," and, of course, "Rockin' in the Free World."  I heard a rumor that he sometimes plays "Cinnamon Girl" during the encore and I really hoped he would at USANA but, alas, he didn't.  I forgive him, though, because of his performance of "Heart of Gold."  That will keep me on a high for days!  It was extremely cold, and I will definitely think twice about seeing an outdoor concert in Utah in October again, but it was worth it to see such an icon perform!

Note:  He was so funny and personable with the crowd.  At one point, he apologized for how long it was taking for him to tune his guitar and told us we didn't have to pay for this portion of the concert!

The Dressmaker

The movie The Dressmaker had already been released in Australia when I was there.  In fact, the woman sitting next to me on the plane watched it during the flight from Auckland to San Francisco.  I kept sneaking peaks at her screen and was very intrigued.  When I saw that it was going to be released at my favorite art house theater I got really excited and I ended up seeing it Sunday afternoon.  I loved this movie so much!  Tilly Dunnage (Kate Winslet) returns to the Australian outback town of Dungatar 25 years after being sent away hoping to remember the events surrounding the death of a boy which prompted her exile and vowing revenge of those in the town who mistreated her.  Having worked in a salon in Paris, she is now an accomplished dressmaker and, while the townspeople initially shun her, they all request her services after a dress made for Gertrude (Sarah Snook), the town ugly duckling, is a great success.  There are some absolutely hilarious situations with the eccentric characters in the town, especially when Tilly's crazy mother (Judy Davis) refuses to take a bath, when the cross dressing police chief (Hugo Weaving) gives up a confidential police statement when tempted by a feather boa, and when Gertrude tries on her wedding dress (created by the rival seamstress in town) and literally escapes out the window and runs down the street to hire Tilly.  Eventually, Tilly learns the truth about what happened that fateful day and gets her revenge on the townspeople in a great scene.  Kate Winslet is brilliant in this role and the clothes she wears are to die for!  My favorite scene is when she literally brings a football game to a standstill by wearing a bright red couture gown.  Judy Davis had me laughing every time she opened her mouth in a hilarious performance.  I loved the Australian scenery and I found the flashback scenes, filmed in an almost sepia tone, to be incredibly effective at conveying a mood.  It has won just about every film award there is to win in Australia and I highly recommend it!

Note:  Did I mention that Liam Hemsworth plays Tilly's love interest?  He takes off his shirt several times!

Queen of Katwe

Saturday night I went to see Queen of Katwe, a heart-warming true story about a young girl's determination to succeed against all odds.  Phiona Mutesi (Medina Nalwanga) is a young girl living in Katwe, a slum of Kampala, Uganda.  Instead of going to school, she gets up early every morning to get water and spends the rest of the day selling vegetables on the street to support her family.  Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) has a degree in engineering (with the highest marks) but he can't get a job in that field because he also grew up in the slums and has no family connections.  He takes a job as a counselor in a sports outreach ministry and begins teaching a chess class.  Phiona watches from afar until Robert invites her in and she immediately impresses him with her ability despite the fact that she can barely read.  He decides to take some of the children to a prestigious chess tournament.  Phiona's mother (Lupita Nyong'o) wants a better life for her daughter but is wary because she needs Phiona to help support the family and doesn't want her to get "ideas."  Phiona is eventually allowed to go and begins winning at other tournaments but she is beset by one tragedy after another.  She decides to become a Grand Master so that she won't have to live like her mother any more.  I found Phiona's story to be incredibly moving (I cried just watching the previews).  It is a bit cliched, but Nalwanga, Oyelowo, and Nyong'o give a highly affecting performances, especially Nalwanga as the young prodigy.  The chess tournament scenes, believe it or not, are incredibly entataining, particularly when one of the children struts around the chess boards after winning.  It is a stand-up-and-cheer movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs something to cheer for.

Note:  My favorite part of the movie is during the closing credits when the actor and the real person portrayed interact with each other.  Ethan Nazario Lubega was so much fun to watch as Benjamin, one of the other chess players in the program, because he is so cheeky.  The real Benjamin is just as cheeky!

Fall and Football

Yesterday was the first day of October (which is definitely my favorite month) and it was a perfect fall day!  The temperature was brisk, the sky was blue, and there was a smell of decomposing leaves in the air.  What better way to celebrate fall than by watching a football game?  Sean's team played the Grantsville Cowboys (they played in Grantsville which is an hour away so I had to get up even earlier) and they have the best record in the league.  They were expecting a shutout against the Braves but the Braves had other plans!  Sean (and the team) played so well!  He played both offense and defense and I think he was on the sideline for about two minutes!  He is getting so good at football, more aggressive and more confident!  I just love watching him play; in fact, it is becoming the highlight of my week.  Yesterday was definitely the highlight of a difficult week!  Here are some pictures of the action.

Note:  Do you love fall as much as I do?  Here are two of my favorite fall posts:  Fall Fun for the Locals and Five Fall Drives Near SLC.  Check them out!

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Last night I saw an early screening of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Tim Burton's adaptation of the popular novel by Ransom Riggs, and it is, well, peculiar.  When I say peculiar, I mean it in a good way, a Tim-Burton-takes-us-on-a-fantastical-journey good way.  When Jake's (Asa Butterfield) grandfather dies from a horrible attack by a monster only he can see, he follows clues left to him by his grandfather to an island near Wales.  He eventually finds the orphanage where his grandfather grew up but it is in ruins.  While trying to return to the orphanage, he meets Emma (Ella Purnell), who can manipulate air, and Millard (Cameron King), who is invisible, and they take him back to the orphanage, now fully restored.   Jake is introduced to Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and other children who have "peculiarities" and learns that it is now 1945 and they live in a loop which allows them to reset the day just before the Nazis drop a bomb on the orphanage.  He eventually learns that the monster who killed his grandfather is one of a group of Hollows who prey upon the peculiars at the behest of the Wights led by Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson).  Jake must use his peculiarity to save Miss Peregrine and the children in an epic showdown with the Hollows and the Wights as well as decide where he really belongs.  Does the plot sound complicated?  It is.  There is a tremendous amount of exposition in this film and it does occasionally get bogged down in its own storytelling.  But that is of little consequence because this film is so visually stunning.  As Tim Burton is wont to do, he creates a fully realized world that could only exist in your imagination and lets the children use it as a playground to display their peculiarities.  My favorite scene is when Emma floats to the top of a tree to rescue a baby squirrel.  Eva Green is a true heir to Helena Bonham Carter (Burton's former muse) in terms of eccentricities (she even has a strange hairstyle with blue highlights) and I loved her performance.  The battle scenes are fantastic, especially since one of the peculiar children can bring inanimate objects to life.  Once this film gets going, it is a lot of fun to watch and I highly recommend it to fans of the novel and of Tim Burton.

Note:  One of my favorite aspects of the novel is the use of vintage photographs and I really like the way the film incorporated them.