Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Last night I went to a late night screening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and I am just a little bit disappointed because it wasn't as, well, magical as I had hoped it would be.  I have long been anticipating the continuation of the Wizarding World because I am such a fan of the Harry Potter books and movies and, while I didn't hate this movie, I didn't love it, either.  Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) visits New York in the 1920s on his way to release a magical creature back into the wilds of Arizona and inadvertently releases several other creatures into the city when he collides with Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger), who has a similar case.  Tensions are high because a dark wizard named Gellert Grindewald (an interesting casting reveal at the end of the film) is trying to provoke a war between the wizards and No-Majs (American Muggles) in the U.S.  The MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America) is trying to suppress the exposure of wizards so Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), a former Auror trying regain her status, arrests him but ends up helping him along with her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol).  Meanwhile, Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), the Director of Magical Security, is trying to track down a child possessed by an Obscurus, a dark force that is created when a wizard is forced to hide his or her magical powers, and enlists the help of the troubled son (a creepy Ezra Miller) of a woman (Samantha Morton) who leads a group against witchcraft.  There is also a sub-plot involving a U.S. Senator (Josh Cowdery) who is killed by an Obscurus, and his wealthy and powerful father (Jon Voight).  It is very obvious that this film is the beginning of a series (I've heard that five films are planned) because there is so much going on to set up future plots.  Many of the characters are very one-dimensional and I suspect that they will be more fully-developed in future films.  What I enjoyed most about this film are the scenes where Scamander and Kowalski traipse around New York trying to collect the escaped beasts, especially when Scamander must perform a mating dance to get an Erumpet back into the case.  I also enjoyed the scene where Scamander shows all of the beasts to Kowaski (the case is like Harry's tent because it is normal on the outside but large enough on the inside to contain all of Scamader's beasts and their habitats).  Redmayne is a lot of fun as the eccentric and permanently ruffled Scamander and Folger is endearing as the No-Maj caught up in the world of wizards but I did not like Waterston's portrayal of Tina Goldstein because it is so bland.  I suspect that I will enjoy the future films a lot more than this one; Gellert Grindewald has great potential as a villain!  In the meantime, however, this installment is definitely a must-see for fans of the Harry Potter franchise.

Beautiful at the Eccles

I finally got to see a show at the new Eccles Theater!  I've been looking forward to Beautiful for quite a while because several people who went on the New York City theatre trip with me saw this show and absolutely raved about it (I chose not to see it in NYC because I knew I would be seeing it in SLC).  Beautiful is a jukebox musical, a stage show which uses previously released pop songs that are either conceptualized to tell a story like Mamma Mia or used to tell the biographical story about the performer whose music is featured like Jersey Boys, describing how Carole King rose to stardom in the 1970s using the songs she wrote such as "So Far Away," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Up on the Roof," "It's Too Late," "You've Got a Friend," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "I Feel The Earth Move" among others.  I had forgotten how many great songs she wrote (I saw King in concert with James Taylor several years ago and I was surprised then as well).  Act I begins with a sixteen year old King (Julia Knitel) deciding to go Manhattan to sell one of her songs to music producer Don Kirshner (Curt Bouril) and continues with her development as a hit songwriter with her husband Gerry Goffin (Liam Tobin) and the rivalry with the songwriting team of Cynthia Weil (covered by DeLaney Westfall last night) and Barry Mann (Ben Fankhauser).  Act II includes the disintegration of King's marriage to Goffin and the writing and recording of her seminal album Tapestry.  King's legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in 1971 is used as a framing device.  I think this musical is staged brilliantly.  King and Goffin or Weil and Mann would begin singing a song as they wrote it and then the artist who made it famous would continue it in a big production number including "Some Kind of Wonderful" with the Drifters, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" with the Shirelles, "Up on the Roof" with the Drifters, "The Locomotion" with Little Eva, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with the Everly Brothers (my favorite), and "One Fine Day" with Janelle Wood.  Knitel does great job with the role and I especially enjoyed her rendition of "Natural Woman" and I also loved the comic relief provided by Fankhauser.  This is a fun show to watch and many people around me automatically started singing the songs.  It runs at the Eccles Theater until Nov. 20.

Note:  Jessie Mueller originated the role of Carole King on Broadway (and won a Tony).  I got to see her perform in the original cast of Waitress on Broadway and she was amazing.

Auckland

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and I had less than a day to explore it!

On our drive into the city, we stopped at the Michael Joseph Savage monument.  Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand and he is known as one of the best and most revered Prime Ministers in the country.  It was a lovely park.  Then we headed to our hotel, which was in a prime location.  The locals say that if you want to play, you turn right and head to the Sky Tower and the casino, and if you want to pray, you turn left and head to St. Patrick's Cathedral.  I did both during my short time in Auckland.

I decided to play first and headed to the Sky Tower.  I went up to the observation deck for some spectacular views of the city and the harbour and to watch people base jumping from the top!

After playing, I decided that I had better pray so I made a stop at St. Patrick's Cathedral and got there just in time to hear mass.  I hadn't been to a mass since I was in Lithuania a few years ago and it was lovely.  The priest thanked God for allowing Wellington to beat South Africa in rugby the night before!

Cathedral Square was a great place for people watching.  You can see the Sky Tower behind the cathedral.

I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon down by the waterfront and imagine my delight when I found the iconic "Red Fence" along Captain Cook Wharf on Quay Street!  Look at those amazing lamp posts!

I found this lovely lamp post near the Ferry Building.

I decided to walk up Queen Street, the main shopping area of Auckland, to look at the beautiful Victorian buildings and found some more amazing lamp posts!

After wandering around Queen Street, I went back to the hotel for our farewell dinner and just like that my adventure Down Under was over! I got on a plane to come back to the United States (and start school shortly thereafter) the next morning!  You can read all about my adventures:  Melbourne, Alice Springs, The Kangaroo Sanctuary, Sunrise Ballooning in the Outback, Uluru, The Great Barrier Reef, Kuranda Rainforest, Sydney Harbour Cruise, Sydney, Whale Watching, The Beautiful South Island of New Zealand, Milford Sound,  and Hobbiton.

Make A Wish 2016

Last year my officers had the amazing opportunity to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah to sponsor Carson, a seven year old boy with a brain tumor.  His wish was to go to Disney World and, with the help of the generous student body of HHS, we were able to make his wish come true!  When the 2016-2017 officers were planning for this school year, they immediately wanted to sponsor another child.  In fact, one of the new officers told me that she specifically ran for office so she could participate in this campaign.  It is pretty magical!

This year we were able to sponsor McKelle, a girl who has cerebral palsy and hearing loss.  She loves the Disney princesses so we based our "Wish Week" around the princess theme.  One of the officers designed a special shirt for the week with Cinderella as the logo and we sold the shirts as a fundraiser.  We also ordered Make-A-Wish wristbands (we sold out of them in two days) and sold stars that students could write their names on to hang in the commons.  In addition, we held our 2nd Annual Dodgeball Tournament which raised quite a bit of money.  Like last year, we created a huge thermometer with challenges that the officers would complete in our Wish Assembly if certain monetary goals were achieved.

We introduced McKelle to the student body at the beginning of the assembly and she certainly charmed everyone in the gym.  My friend made her a princess shirt and she was so excited!

We had her Mom and several of her siblings speak to the crowd about the difficulties McKelle goes through on a daily basis.  They also spoke about her love of the Disney princesses.  She wants to go to Disney World so much that she has a bag packed by her bed ready to go!

Then we had a "Miracle Minute" where the officers went into the crowd to collect money.  HHS donated almost $1,000 in that minute!

Then the officers completed the challenges.  One of them was "Egg Roulette."  We had hard boiled and raw eggs and each officer had to pick one to smash against their forehead.  The raw egg was a little bit messy!

Another challenge was "Mystery Baby Food."  The officers were blindfolded and we fed them such delicacies as carrots, beets, squash, and peas.  Apparently, the peas are pretty gross!

Several officers had to eat a raw onion.  I didn't think this would be too bad but, apparently, it was disgusting!  We also had the boys wax their legs (like last year) and one of the officers cut her long hair!

When we were brainstorming different challenges, the officers wanted to have a tarantula walk on the officers who were afraid of spiders.  I didn't think that the administration would approve this challenge but they did with the proviso that we not harm the tarantula.  I thought that was hilarious!  It turns out that tarantulas are very fragile and, when I picked it up from the pet store, I was given lots of instructions.  When I was in college getting my teaching certificate, no one ever said that I would have to be a tarantula wrangler!

Throughout the week, we sold raffle tickets to students for the chance to throw a pie at their favorite teacher, coach, or administrator.  We drew twelve names and this was the highlight of the assembly!  I can't imagine why but we made lots of money with this challenge!  (The teachers, coaches, and administrators were very good sports!).  We were able to present a check to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah in the amount of $4,021.25!

Several of the officers dressed up as princesses to give McKelle a tiara and a trip to Disney World!  This week was so much work but it was worth it just to see McKelle's face when her wish was granted!  She programmed her iPad to thank the crowd and they gave her a standing ovation.  Such an amazing experience!

Note:  Go here to see the news story on KTVX and go here to find out more about Make-A-Wish Utah.

Arrival

Last night I went to see the new sci-fi thriller Arrival and, upon reflection, I think it is absolutely brilliant.  The movie begins with flashbacks to a woman and the birth, life, and early death of her daughter.  We learn that this woman is Louise Banks (Amy Adams), an eminent professor of linguistics, and we learn that twelve unidentified flying objects have landed in various parts of the world (the depiction of the world's response to the alien invasion seemed more realistic to me than any other alien movie I've seen).  Banks is eventually recruited, along with a theoretical physicist (Jeremy Renner), by a military officer (Forest Whittaker, using a bizarre accent) to find a way to communicate with the beings inside the pod that landed in Montana.  The scenes in which they make first contact are incredibly intense, with just a hint of menace, and the unsettling atmospheric musical cues had me on the edge of my seat.  As Banks begins the slow process of learning the language of the Heptapods, as the aliens are known, she continues to have perplexing flashbacks to scenes with her daughter.  When the governments of China and Russia deem the aliens to be hostile, Banks learns why the aliens have come, what they want from Earth, and why.  It is an interesting premise but it involves a huge plot twist which still has me shaking my head.  I really enjoyed Adams' performance and the scenes where she interacts with the Heptapods are actually quite magical.  I also found the philosophical exploration of the complexities of language to be fascinating.  However, I am still trying to wrap my brain around the ending.  I am sure that I will be thinking about it and questions of time, predestination, language, and global cooperation for quite a while.  You should definitely go see Arrival because movies that make you think are always the best kind.