Tashena is Fifteen!

Yesterday was Tashena's birthday!  I simply cannot believe that she is fifteen!  Shortly after she joined our family, we celebrated her fifth birthday!  It is hard to believe that she has been a part of our lives for ten years and what an amazing ten years it has been.  She is a beautiful and talented girl and we love her so much (although both Marilyn and I wish we could still buy her Barbies like we did for her first birthday with us).

For her main present she wanted Beats headphones which made all of us jealous.  Tashena always has better technology than anyone else in our family.

Tashena got lots of gift cards (and is really excited to go shopping!), a purple umbrella, and the Pitch Perfect 2 DVD.

Tashena wanted brownies instead of a cake so our local bakery made this for her.  

2014

2013

2012

2011

2009

2008

Note:  I'm missing a few but the past ten years with Tashena have been amazing and we are so glad that she is a part of our family!

Bridge of Spies

Last night I went to see Bridge of Spies which tells the true story of the exchange of U.S. and Soviet spies during the Cold War.  As a student of history and a fan of spy novels, this movie definitely appealed to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  In 1957, Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is suspected of being a Soviet spy and is subsequently arrested.  New York attorney James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is asked to represent him to give the appearance of due process.  Despite the objections of his firm and his family, not to mention the American public, Donovan vigorously defends him and eventually argues against execution on the grounds that Abel could be useful to trade for an American spy caught in the Soviet Union.  Donovan's words become prophetic when a U-2 spy plane is shot down in the Soviet Union and the pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is captured.  Donovan, as a private citizen, is asked to broker the exchange in East Berlin.  When he learns that the Stasi has captured an American student, he works to include him in the exchange with Abel to the dismay of the CIA.  Donovan gives East Germany an ultimatum and the exchange takes place at Checkpoint Charlie while the exchange of Abel and Powers takes place in a dramatic scene on the Glienicke Bridge between East and West Germany.  The action is slow but incredibly intense with many dramatic scenes involving Cold War intrigue, especially in East Berlin.  In my opinion Tom Hanks excels at portraying these "everyman" characters and this role is no exception (I once read that Tom Hanks is the Jimmy Stewart of our time).  The scene where Donovan argues an appeal before the Supreme Court is extremely powerful and a scene where he is reviled on the train is very affecting.  I also really enjoyed Mark Rylance in his self-contained performance as Abel.  In addition, there are quite a few excellent performances in small roles such as Alan Alda as Donovan's boss and Sebastian Koch, a noted German actor, as Vogel the East German negotiator (Eve Hewson, Bono's daughter, does a good job in a small role as Donovan's daughter).  I took a contemporary American history class in college and wrote a paper on the U-2 spy incident (which fascinated me) so I literally had goosebumps during the scene where they showed the plane to the pilots (much like my reaction to seeing the Enigma machine in The Imitation Game).  I am such a nerd!  I would recommend Bridge of Spies to fans of the genre.

Note:  As I was walking out of the theater, I ran into my sister and brother-in-law who were waiting to see The Martian.  I decided to join them to see it for the third time.  It is so good!

Thriller 2015

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is seeing Thriller performed by Odyssey Dance Theatre.  I've been going to this dance concert for years and years and I always look forward to it.  Just like The Nutcracker at Christmas time, I anticipate every dance even though I've seen them countless times!  The concert always begins with the undead cavorting in a graveyard to Michael Jackson's iconic song, "Thriller."  Speaking of the undead, they roam the aisles of Kingsbury Hall before the concert and they usually leave me alone because I don't make eye contact with them.  Last night they targeted me for some reason (maybe because I was on the front row?).  I loved the breakdancing mummy in "The Curse of the Mummy," the Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," the tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," the trio of Jasons with their knives and swords and chainsaws (oh, my!) in "Jason Jam," the scarecrows who come to life in "Children of the Corn," the condemned witches who return for revenge in "Salem's Mass," the acrobatic vampires in "The Lost Boys," and the doomed Irish dancers in "River of Blood Dance."  There were also a few new surprises this year which were a lot of fun.  All of the dancers are amazing and the show is incredibly entertaining and fun to watch.  It just wouldn't be Halloween without it!  Thriller is being performed in multiple venues around Utah through Oct. 31.  Go here for tickets and more information.

Big Fish at HCT

Wednesday night I had the chance to see the musical Big Fish at Hale Centre Theatre.  I didn't know anything about the music or story before I saw it but now I can tell you that it is absolutely charming. Will Bloom is exasperated by all of his father's wild stories involving an encounter with a witch, learning how to swim from a mermaid, a friendship with a giant, running away to the circus, and stopping an assassination attempt of a general during the war. When Will learns that his father is dying of cancer, he returns to visit and, after a Wild West confrontation between the two, discovers that his father has been a real hero all along. All of the songs are so uplifting, especially "Be the Hero," and I loved the choreography, costumes, and props featured in the fantastical stories recounted by Edward.  I think the scenes at the circus were my favorite and I just about died when the elephants (wearing pink tutus) appeared at the top of every aisle!  As usual, Kacey Udy has outdone himself with the set design.  There is a river (literally) flowing through the middle of the stage and it is pretty spectacular.  I also loved the use of miniatures to denote various locations such as the witch's haunted house, Auburn University, and the city of Ashton. Both Douglas W. Irey and Jacob Theo Squire are outstanding as Edward and Will Bloom, respectively. Irey portrays Edward's zest for life with an enthusiasm that is palpable and I really enjoyed his facial expressions, especially when he is wooing his future wife Sandra (Amanda Crabb). Squire portrays Will's journey from skepticism to appreciation for his father's stories with heartfelt emotion, particularly in the song "What's Next."  I also really enjoyed Mackenzie Seiler as The Witch.  She has an incredibly powerful voice and her song, "I Know What You Want," just about blew the roof off of the theatre (and received thunderous applause). I highly recommend this delightful show about the reconciliation between a father and son.  It runs at Hale Centre Theatre until Nov. 28 and you can go here for tickets and more information.

I Heart the Hard Rock Cafe

When I was in Las Vegas over fall break, I had to visit the Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip.  Even though Las Vegas is known for its many famous restaurants, I always seem to end up there!  I guess it started in 1990 when I was on a study abroad trip.  I visited London for about a week and near the top of my wish list of places to visit was the London Hard Rock Cafe because it was the very first one and it has a lot of fabulous Beatles memorabilia.

I wanted a souvenir from the HRC but I didn't have a lot of money and the shirts were quite expensive.  I decided to get a pin instead and thus began my pin collection.  Whenever I am in a city with a HRC, I try to get a pin and I now have hundreds of them.  It is a fun tradition to have when traveling.

Berlin

Denver

Barcelona

San Diego

Rome

Note:  My favorite HRC is the one inside the Rogers Centre.  Go Blue Jays!

Jersey Boys in Las Vegas

Ever since I saw the Midtown Men (the original Broadway cast of Jersey Boys) perform at Abravanel Hall last spring, I have wanted to see Jersey Boys again!  I decided to see the Las Vegas production while I was in Southern Utah over fall break (Las Vegas is about two hours south of St. George) and, once again, I absolutely loved it!  I am fairly certain that I was one of the youngest people in the audience but I knew every single word to every single song and there were many times when I had to stop myself from singing out loud!  The musical tells the true story of how Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons became rock and roll legends from the perspectives of each of the four members. All of the main actors, Graham Fenton as Frankie Valli, Jason Kappus as Bob Gaudio, Jason Martinez as Nick Massi, and Daniel Robert Sullivan as Tommy Devito, are incredible performers who sing and dance just like the Four Seasons.  I loved all of the great music, especially when they performed "Sherry Baby" on American Bandstand, "Dawn (Go Away)" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and "Rag Doll" at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  The staging is incredibly clever.  They would often begin singing a song around a piano then move set pieces to depict recording the song and then they would put on jackets to perform the song on TV or on stage.  As the cameras filmed them, the footage would be projected on screens which I also thought was really clever.  There were three actresses who played multiple parts simply by changing costumes and wigs.  It was all incredibly seamless.  It is a very entertaining show to watch, although there is quite a bit of profanity, and I had such a great time.  After the bows, the cast came out once again to sing "December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)" and the entire crowd danced in the aisles!  It was so much fun and definitely worth the drive to Las Vegas!

Note:  Jersey Boys is performed at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.  It made me wish that I was really in my favorite city!

Zion National Park 2015

Over fall break I took a quick trip to Southern Utah.  Zion National Park is one of my very favorite places on Earth and it had been more than a year and a half since I had been there last.  That was much too long!  There is something about those red rocks that just calls to me and I spent a lovely day wandering around.  It was incredibly peaceful even though it was quite crowded and I needed a bit of peace after a crazy couple of months!

Pawn Sacrifice

Last Thursday night I went to see the film Pawn Sacrifice at the Broadway.  It tells the true story of the epic chess tournament between American Bobby Fischer and Russian Boris Spassky during the height of the Cold War through the filter of Fischer's mental illness.  Tobey Maguire gives an incredibly nuanced performance (one of his best performances in years) as Fischer, a man who becomes incapacitated by his own paranoid delusions as government officials use him to score a victory over the Soviets in the wake of the Vietnam debacle.  Maguire portrays all of Fischer's eccentricities, such as demanding a match be moved because he can hear the sound of the television cameras, trashing his hotel room because he is certain that it is bugged, and battling reporters at the airport, without overshadowing the pathos of his isolation.  I was particularly struck by a scene showing Fischer cowering in a corner of his apartment tormented by the sound of the footsteps of people coming and going in the hall.  I also enjoyed Liev Schreiber's performance as Spassky because he was able to show both vulnerability and respect for Fischer's ability, especially in Game 6 when he concedes the match to Fischer. Their strong performances as men who were, themselves, used as chess pieces by their respective governments were compelling enough to make me invested in the outcome of a match conducted in near silence.  I, like many people in my screening, cheered when Fischer won!  The constant use of actual footage from coverage of the matches (there is a Forrest Gump moment with Dick Cavett) got old and the pop culture montages (especially the one with Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit) interspersed here and there were a bit cliched.  However, I would definitely recommend this film as a compelling biopic about a complicated man.

Utah Opera's Tosca

Last night I went to opening night for Utah Opera's Tosca with my cousin John.  Not only is Tosca one of my favorite operas but this is a marvelous production so it was an incredible evening!  Floria Tosca (Kara Shay Thomson) is a fiery and passionate singer with two men in love with her:  her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi (Dinyar Vania), and the Police Chief, Baron Scarpia (Michael Chioldi), who wants to possess her at any cost.  Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi for aiding a political prisoner and sentences him to death.  He tells Tosca that he will release him if she submits to him, promising her that the firing squad will be a ruse.  She agrees but when he embraces her, she stabs him with a knife.  She visits Cavaradossi in the Castel Sant'Angelo to tell him that he must pretend to die and then they will run away when the guards leave.  However, Scarpia has betrayed her so Cavaradossi is actually killed by the firing squad.  Knowing that she will be accused of Scarpia's murder and unwilling to live without Cavaradossi, Tosca leaps to her death from the parapet of the Castel Sant'Angelo.  The music is so beautiful and the three main actors give wonderful performances.  A scene in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at the end of Act 1 where Scarpia reveals his plan to execute Cavaradossi and possess Tosca while a procession sings the Te Deum is absolutely breathtaking.  I also loved Tosca's aria "Vissi d'arte" at the end of Act 2 where she asks God to help her.  But my favorite moment of the entire opera is in Act 3 when Cavaradossi sings the aria "E lucevan le stelle" reminiscing about his love for Tosca as he awaits execution.  Vania sings it so beautifully (and there is an amazing theme played by the clarinets) that I had tears in my eyes!  I really enjoyed the addition of the Choristers of The Madeleine Choir School singing the Te Deum as well.  The sets of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Scarpia's study in the Palazzo Farnese. and the Castel Sant'Angelo are very elaborate and added to the overall dramatic feeling of the opera.  I thoroughly enjoyed this production (I love the tragic operas where desperate lovers die for love) and I would highly recommend it.  Tosca runs at the Capitol Theatre until Oct. 18.  Go here for tickets and more information.

Note:  It now takes me less than 15 minutes to drive to the Capitol Theatre (instead of the usual 45 minutes it used to take me from South Jordan)!  Moving into my new house was the best decision I have ever made!

The Walk

A few months ago I saw a trailer featuring a man climbing out on to the ledge of a towering skyscraper.  When the camera slowly revealed the man's view of the street down below I felt a little bit of vertigo.  Not knowing anything about The Walk, I immediately wanted to see it just because it looked so thrilling!  The fact that it is inspired by Philippe Petit's actual high-wire walk between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 made it even more compelling to me.  I finally had the chance to see it last night (I have been preoccupied with another little movie called The Martian...oh, and I also moved into a new house) in IMAX 3D and it is fantastic.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Petit and he prepared for the role by learning to walk on a high-wire (he trained with Petit himself) and learning French (I thought his accent was great).  He is absolutely endearing as a street performer who becomes enamored with a picture of the World Trade Center that he sees in a magazine and then becomes obsessed with walking in the air between the towers.  He recruits a series of "accomplices" to help him with his "coup" and these characters are often quite comical (Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony, and Cesar Domboy).  Three-fourths of the film is an Inspector Clouseau-like caper as the team surreptitiously prepares for the walk and the rest of the film is a thrilling adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat.  The views while Petit is out on the wire are spectacular and, even though most of it is CGI, it feels very authentic.  The production design is incredibly stylized, first in black and white as Petit performs in the streets of Paris, then in vivid color as he trains at the circus, and then misty as he walks through the air in New York. I really enjoyed this film and I recommend that you see it in IMAX 3D.

The Martian

Last night my family went to the first screening of The Martian and we all absolutely loved it!  The book seriously blew me away and the movie is an incredible adaptation!  Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is an astronaut with the Ares 3 expedition on Mars.  During a sand storm he is seriously injured and the rest of the crew, thinking that he is dead, initiates an emergency evacuation leaving him behind.  He uses science and his own ingenuity to survive and eventually contacts NASA to formulate a plan for his rescue involving his former crew, now orbiting Mars.  To say that this movie is intense would be an understatement!  I was on the edge of my seat and holding my breath most of the time (and I had read the book!).  This movie also has a lot of comedic moments as well, particularly involving Watney's use of expletives.  The entire cast of NASA engineers and astronauts, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Michael Pena, is outstanding but Damon gives a tour de force performance!  At various times he had me laughing, crying, and cringing (he had to treat his own rather serious wound).  I was literally crying when he established contact with NASA for the first time.  The cinematography is breathtaking with incredible long shots of the barren landscape on Mars.  The sound design is spectacular and I was particularly struck by the sound of Watney's breathing.  I also loved the soundtrack (one of the astronauts left behind an extensive collection of disco).  I think the screenplay is very faithful to the source material.  The book does go into a lot more detail about the actual science of what Watney is doing but its omission does not detract at all.  Some events during Watney's journey to the MAV in the Schiaparelli Crater are also left out but, again, it doesn't lessen the dramatic impact of what he goes through.  I loved it! I really, really loved it and I would highly recommend it!

The Nightingale

For its September selection, my book club chose The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. The novel takes place during the occupation of France during World War II and depicts the lives of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, as they cope, very differently, with the horrors of war. There is a framing device involving an elderly woman in present day who discovers a trunk of memorabilia from the war and then recounts the story of the sisters.  Vianne is rendered almost helpless as her husband, Antoine, joins the army and eventually ends up in a POW camp.  She spends the war trying to keep life and limb together for herself, her daughter, and her Jewish neighbor, doing whatever is necessary, even exploiting her relationship with the German officer billeted in her home.  Isabelle, restless and headstrong, joins the Resistance and leads downed airmen back to safety through the Pyrenees Mountains. The unknown woman, once again in present day, then travels to France for a reunion with several of the characters. The reader does not know which of the sisters is depicted in this framing device until the very end and that definitely kept my attention throughout. However, I thought this novel was good but not great. I enjoyed reading about the perspectives of women fighting the war at home but many of the historical details didn't ring true to me (The Nazis didn't advertise that Jews were being sent to concentration camps on posters).  Certain events seemed too coincidental to be believed (Did everyone in France have a secret place in their homes where Jews and resistance leaders could hide?).  I sometimes got the impression that Hannah thought of every horrifying event that happened in France during World War II and then applied it to these two sisters and the town of Carriveau (Why were there so many German officers in this little town?).  I also found the romances to be cliched and melodramatic (Of course Vianne will develop feelings for the handsome German officer so far from home who is only following orders.  Of course Isabelle will fall for a dashing resistance fighter after a dramatic brush with death). Most people will probably enjoy this novel; in fact, everyone seems to be gushing about it but, in my opinion, it does not equal All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (which it is often compared to) or Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.  I would recommend reading those.

Shop 'Till You Drop

I do not like shopping!  I am completely undone by salespeople and I have actually had panic attacks in stores with particularly aggressive salespeople.  I once told a saleswoman at Bath & Body Works that I was definitely going to make a purchase as long as she left me alone.  When she kept on bugging me, I told her that she had just lost a sale and walked out of the store.  I am a minimalist.  Too much stuff around me makes me nervous and everything must be put away in its proper place or I can't sleep at night.  Consequently, I usually don't get very attached to things.  I would rather spend money on experiences than on things.  Finally, I am very frugal (when it comes to things, not experiences).  When given the choice, I almost always choose the cheapest item.  With the exception of my sleigh bed and my sectional sofa, most of my furniture was given to me by friends and family as hand-me-downs or gifts.  I've always been nervous about spending money and I've usually settled for something less, thinking that someday I would get what I wanted.  My new house is a very different color palette than my old house and I decided to get a new comforter for my bed.  I found one online at Target and I went to get it on Saturday...with my sister.  Once I found the comforter, my sister convinced me that I needed all new bedding to match and, even though I thought my pillows were perfectly fine, apparently they were not and I had to get new ones.  Then I needed all new towels and my sister literally forced me to get the most expensive ones (they are absolutely wonderful).  I shudder to think about what I spent on towels alone!  Then I found a ruffly accent pillow for my bed.  Marilyn was openly weeping about the fact that I spontaneously selected a completely frivolous item!  Then I needed rugs for the bathroom.  Not just one rug, but two!  I was practically hyperventilating over how much money I was spending but Marilyn told me not to think about it because I had the money to spend.  She told me that I have worked really hard all of my life and that I deserve to have exactly what I want for my new house.  I think she has created a monster!  I have always wanted a black pub table for my dining room and I found it at R.C.Willey.  I have always wanted industrial metal bar stools and I've ordered them along with a charcoal gray club chair that I couldn't resist.  I'm going back to R.C.Willey to get a console table that I fell in love with (it's expensive but I want it) and I'm getting the bookcases and desk I've been pining over at IKEA.  Pretty soon I will have the house I've always imagined in my mind and I can't believe how much fun I have been having shopping!  I think Marilyn put a spell on me...

Note:  Next weekend I will be buying a new TV and I'm terrified.  I've never bought a TV before.  When I moved into my first apartment I took the TV I had in my bedroom as a teenager.  When I received my Master's Degree, my parents bought me an upgrade as a graduation present.  When that TV died, my sister gave me one that was left over from a benefit auction at her work.  I figure it's time for a flatscreen so I can, as my sister says, join the 21st Century.  Wish me luck!