Gingerbread Houses 2016

Last night we had our traditional gingerbread house party with Sean and Tashena.  We do this every year, although Sean mentioned that when he is a teenager next year he might not want to do it any more.  Tashena responded by saying that she is sixteen and still likes to do it!  We always buy the kits and then we hot glue them together so we can get to the decorating faster.  It is such a fun tradition!

We always have to get the shot of Sean eating the frosting because we have one from every year!  He eats more frosting than he puts on his house.  In fact, he ate so much this year that he had to use my leftover frosting to finish!

Working on their houses!

Various stages of construction!

Tashena with her house.

Sean with his house.  The random purple candy on the window kills me!

Our gingerbread village!

La La Land

Last night I was, once again, at the Broadway Theater downtown.  This time I saw a film that I have been looking forward to for months and it was as good as I was hoping it would be!  La La Land is an homage to the classic old Hollywood musical (director Damien Chazelle was inspired by Singin' in the Rain and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) but it is set in modern-day Los Angeles and it tells a very contemporary story.  Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a jazz musician who dreams of owning his own club.  They meet and spend an idyllic summer together full of singing, dancing, and old-fashioned romance.  They both struggle to achieve their dreams but will they choose success or love?  After they make their choice, we get to see what their lives are like five years later but, in an incredibly clever sequence, we also get to see what their lives would have been like had they made a different choice.  Oh, how I loved this movie!  It is charming, delightful, and magical with wonderfully engaging performances by both Gosling and Stone, made even more impressive by the fact that neither of them are known for singing and dancing (Gosling learned to tap and play piano for the role).  The choreography is spectacular (it was choreographed by Mandy Moore, who is most noted for her work on So You Think You Can Dance), especially in "A Lovely Night" shot in the Hollywood Hills at sunset, and I loved the music so much I downloaded "City of Stars" before the final credits ended.  I cannot recommend this movie enough!  It put a smile on my face at I time when I have become a bit jaded about life.

Manchester by the Sea

I live equidistant from a large and state-of-the-art multiplex, where I go to see the latest blockbusters, and a quaint and charming art house theater downtown, where I go to see independent films and documentaries.  I spend an equal amount of time at both:  Thursday night I was at the multiplex and last night found me at the Broadway for a screening of Manchester by the Sea.  This film was easily my favorite at the Sundance Film Festival last year and I was quite eager to see it again now that it is in wide release.  Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a janitor working in Boston with a habit of getting written up at work and getting into fights at the local bar.  He is clearly troubled but there are flashbacks to happier times with his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) and young nephew on their boat in Manchester.  When his brother dies, Lee learns that, unbeknownst to him, he has been made guardian to his nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges), now sixteen years old.  Patrick does not want to leave his life (and multiple girlfriends) in Manchester to move to Boston but Lee doesn't want to move back to Manchester because he is haunted by the memory of a tragic accident for which he, his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams), and most of the town hold him responsible.  Lee attempts to make it work but finally realizes that he cannot live with his demons and makes other arrangements for Patrick, although the film ends beautifully with Lee and Patrick on the boat trying to forge a relationship.  This movie is brilliant!  It is getting quite a bit of Oscar buzz (it has been nominated for multiple Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Affleck, and Best Supporting Actress for Williams) and, should the Academy request my opinion, it definitely has my vote for Best Picture!  The flashbacks of the accident with Albinoni's Adagio for Strings, one of the most mournful pieces in the classical repertoire, underneath it is absolutely gut-wrenching as is the scene where Randi tells Lee that she still loves him.  Affleck gives the performance of his career and, upon a second viewing, I was even more impressed with his portrayal of a man so consumed by past grief that he cannot face the future.  I highly recommend this film, although some might find the excessive profanity to be offensive.

Note:  At Sundance it received one of the biggest distribution deals in festival history, second only to The Birth of a Nation.  Good stuff!

Rogue One

I love the anticipation of a big blockbuster:  buying a ticket weeks in advance, looking forward to the screening all day, entering the theater with an excited and rowdy crowd, and eating a big tub of popcorn while waiting for the lights to dim.  Since I am a huge fan of the Stars Wars franchise, it is no surprise that I did all of the above for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  I scored a ticket to an advance screening, a hot commodity in these parts, late last night (early this morning?) and I absolutely loved it!  I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about a so-called standalone story leading up to the events portrayed in the first trilogy.  Would it live up to the magic of the originals?  Then I saw the first extended trailer and I started getting excited, which is always a bit dangerous because, when you walk into the theater with high expectations, you are sometimes disappointed.  Rogue One actually exceeded my expectations because it is a powerful exploration of what it means to believe in something enough to die for it.  An Imperial scientist with a conscience named Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) is forced back into service to create a powerful weapon for the Empire.  When the Death Star is about to become operational, Galen secretly sends an Imperial pilot with a message for his daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones), telling her about a weakness that he created in the design.  She along with a band of misfits, including Rebel Officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, sigh), a reprogrammed straight-talking Imperial droid named K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) the Imperial pilot who defected to the rebellion, Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen) a blind monk with the power of the Force, and Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) a mercenary who doubts the Force, embark on a dangerous mission to recover the plans for the Death Star.  There are a myriad of characters and locations in the beginning and a great deal of exposition but it is worth it to get to the climactic final battle which is exciting, intense, and suspenseful.  The crowd cheered every time a familiar character made an appearance, especially Governor Tarkin, Darth Vader, C-3PO, and R2-D2 and they just about lost their minds over the final scene.  Again, I loved this movie, much more than I thought I would, and I definitely recommend it to fans of the franchise.

Note:  On another Thursday night exactly one year ago, I attended an advance screening of The Force Awakens (in the same theater).  That was an epic, never-to-be-forgotten experience but this movie was a lot of fun, too!

Colorado Avalanche vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Last spring, when I heard that Air Canada was coming to the Salt Lake City airport, I got really excited!  That meant that I could fly directly from SLC to Toronto for a reasonable price.  I knew that I wanted to plan a trip because I hadn't been to my hometown since 2005!  I've always wanted to see my favorite hockey team, the Colorado Avalanche, play a road game so I thought it would be epic to see them play the Maple Leafs in the Air Canada Centre!  I mentioned it to my Dad and we eagerly awaited the release of the 2016-2017 hockey schedule to see when the two teams would be playing.  When we learned that they would be playing on a weekend, it seemed feasible.  We bought our tickets about a month ago and I flew to Toronto last weekend for an amazing trip (My Dad got there a week earlier).  I can't tell you how amazing it was to be back home for a few days!  My Dad picked me up at the airport and took me visiting people who have known me my whole life and love me.  Brian, my Dad's best friend from childhood, and his wife took us to dinner and we didn't stop talking or laughing.  I got to visit all of my favorite spots, including a quick trip to Niagara Falls to see them illuminated with colored lights, several trips to Tim Hortons for donuts, a visit to my grandparents' graves, and a visit to the locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway (a big cargo ship had just entered a lock when we got there and I got to see it go through).  Sunday night was the game and it was absolutely thrilling to be in the ACC!  I loved all of the Stanley Cup banners!  It was fun to cheer for the road team, especially in a place that loves their team as much as Leafs fans do!  I did, however, see quite a few people in Avalanche jerseys and we would high five each other in solidarity!  My Dad's friend Brian, despite the fact that he lives there, had never been to a game before so we got him a ticket.  He took me to my first Blue Jays game back in the day so I thought it was fun that I got to take him to his first Maple Leafs game!  I asked him who he was going to cheer for and he emphatically said, "Toronto!"  Although, I did catch him cheering for the Avs so maybe I converted him!  It was a great game!  Colorado scored two really pretty power play goals and, after the second one in the third period, the usher in my section came and told me that I was being too loud!  The Avs got two penalties in quick succession late in the third so the Leafs pulled their goalie and scored.  The guy sitting next to me gave me a hard time throughout the whole game so when he started cheering like a crazy man after the goal, I told him that the only way the Leafs could score was when they had a six on three advantage!  The Avs scored an empty net goal in the last few minutes to win 3-1!  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and having the Avalanche win was like icing on the cake!

It was so much fun to watch my Dad and Brian interact with each other!  They were like two teenage boys!  I think it is amazing that they have been such good friends for so long!

This was definitely a bucket list game for both me and my Dad and I am so glad that we got to do it!

Note:  I have always considered myself to be Canadian and it was very emotional for me to be back home.  While my life is in SLC and it would be difficult for me to pull up stakes and move back, I have to admit that I shed a tear when I boarded the plane to leave!