Korver For Three!

Last night was Kyle Korver's first home game as a member of the Jazz and I can't remember when I have been more excited for a Jazz game!  It was so much fun to see him out on the court making three pointers!  The Jazz played the San Antonio Spurs and it was a fantastic game.  They took a 3-2 lead with a three pointer from Donovan Mitchell in the first few minutes of the game and they never once relinquished that lead!  Korver came in during the last three minutes of the first quarter and the arena went crazy!  In less than a minute he made a 25-foot three point jumper and the crowd went crazy once again!  He hit a few more three pointers during the game and ended up with 15 points.  It brought back so many happy memories of watching him play and I pretty much lost my voice cheering for him.  Korver wasn't the only one who played well!  Ten different players combined for 20 three pointers (a franchise record) and the Jazz basically had their way with the Spurs to win 139-105.  I am so glad that Korver is back in SLC and I anticipate going to a few more games this season (this could be a bad thing)!

Note:  I wore my old Korver jersey and I got quite a bit of attention (every time he scored the man behind me would pat me on the back).  I think I might need to get a new one!

Boy Erased

I love this time of year because a lot of Oscar contenders are released and I had the chance to see one of them, Boy Erased, yesterday.  Lucas Hedges is Jared Eamons, the son of Marshall (Russell Crowe), an affluent Baptist minister and owner of a car dealership, and his wife Nancy (Nicole Kidman).  He breaks up with his girlfriend and questions his sexuality when he begins college.  After a traumatic incident at school with another boy he is outed to his parents who, seeking the counsel of other church members, decide to send him to a gay conversion therapy program run by Victor Sykes (Joel Edgerton).  In the beginning he is a willing participant who wants to change.  He is told by one attendee named Jon (Xavier Dolan) to devote himself wholeheartedly to the program and by another named Gary (Troye Sivan) that he should play the part so that he can go home again.  He begins to question Sykes' practices when an attendee named Cameron (Britton Sear) is humiliated in front of the group and, during an emotional exercise, he retrieves his phone and contacts his Mom.  She is horrified by what has been happening in the program and decides to take him home despite her husband's objections.  What I really liked about this movie, which sets it apart from The Miseducation of Cameron Post, is that neither the parents nor the program director are vilified but the message about the harm done by conversion therapy is very clear.  They are misguided but they mean well.  Both Kidman and Crowe give highly sympathetic performances because you definitely understand why they do what they do even if you are horrified by it and I loved the fact that they ultimately accept their son (the final scene between Hedges and Crowe is so affecting).  I also really enjoyed a cameo by Cherry Jones who plays a doctor who tells Jared that he is completely normal.  Hedges, as always, gives a brilliant performance that is incredibly nuanced as a young man forced to reconcile his sexual identity with his Evangelical Christian upbringing.  You see his confusion, his desire to please his parents, and his dawning realization that he is not evil.  It is very restrained but it is extremely powerful with an important message that everyone needs to see.  I highly recommend it!

Winter Ball 2018

Last night Tashena went to the Bountiful High School Winter Ball with Carson who was in Ragtime with her.  He is absolutely adorable and the two of them can dance (I wish I could have seen them together at the dance).

Pinning on the boutonniere.

The corsage.

I always love the dresses that Tashena picks!  I think this one is beautiful!

I hope they had a good time!

Sean is Fourteen

Yesterday we celebrated Sean's fourteenth birthday (his actual birthday is tomorrow).  He wanted to stay at home have hamburgers and fries for lunch, which tasted delicious.  After lunch we had the traditional Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and he picked a polar bear design.  It was absolutely adorable (the ears were made of Oreos).

For his birthday he only wanted one (really expensive) thing so we all pitched in together and got it for him!

We got him a PlayStation4 and he was so excited!

After he opened it he took it to his room and started playing with it!  I love this kid so much and I hope he had a great birthday!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert

Last night I got to see the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban screened at Abravanel Hall with the Utah Symphony playing the wonderful score by John Williams.  I love the Films in Concert series but seeing this particular movie, which chronicles Harry's third year at Hogwarts, was especially fun.  Many people in the crowd were in costume representing the four houses of Hogwarts and they cheered enthusiastically when every character was introduced or when anything dramatic happened.  Having the score played live adds so much to the experience!  Of course the instantly recognizable main theme is amazing but I also really enjoyed the music played when Harry takes the Knight bus to the Leaky Cauldron, when he rides Buckbeak the hippograff, when he plays Quidditch (the timpani and the chimes!), when he and Hermione are attacked by the Whomping Willow, when he summons a Patronus to save Sirius Black from the Dementers, and when he and Hermione rescue Sirius from the tower with Buckbeak.  There is a lot of percussion in this score and it is much darker in tone than the music in the first two films.  I loved watching the members of the orchestra playing their instruments while I watched the movie.  It was also cool to have the Utah Opera Chorus perform "Double Trouble" which is sung by a student choir in the Great Hall at Hogwarts at the beginning of the term.  I loved every minute of this movie and, if you are a fan of Harry Potter, I recommend getting a ticket to see it when it is screened again tonight (go here).