What I've Been Listening To

It has been awhile since I have been so excited about a new album.  I love this band, they have some Utah roots so I've known about them for a few years and it is really exciting to see them getting more attention, I even heard them on the radio here in Portland the other day!  It is a great album with some of their past works added to this one like It's Time and On Top of the World.  Check them out, see what you think.

Music and the Spoken Word

My family attended Music and the Spoken word with my grandma this morning to celebrate her 70th birthday. It was fun going down the Conference Center and enjoying the program that consisted of all Christmas music. After the program we had brunch and cupcakes at the grandma's house to celebrate. I am grateful for all of the opportunities we have around us to enjoy so many different things such as the Motab Broadcast. We will be back down there in two weeks for the Christmas concert.

Perfection

JD's grandparents gave us tickets to attend the Utah Symphony Orchestra with them last night. They had a guest violinst, James Ehnes, and he was amazing. Every once in a while you have moments where you are witnessing what is near perfection examples include: U2, after 20+ years of practice can throw an amazing concert, the Olympians have dedicated most of their lives to their sport of choice and you get to see the near perfects take the gold every 2 years, and last night I can add James Ehnes to that list. It was fascinating to watch him play and amazing to hear what was coming out of that 1715 Marsick Stradivarius of his (as in a real Stradivarius, worth well over $1,000,000). That's right, I watched a Master Violinist play his Stradivarius-no big deal.

Fidelio

JD and I had a new experience last night: German opera. Fidelio was written by Beethoven and we actually enjoyed it, as it was very "stirring" (direct quote from the rich ladies sitting behind us). The story was good, the plot moved along for the most part, and there was even some humor in it (I didn't know Beethoven had that in him). Outside of the performance there was also much to observe: A woman alone in her box seats was playing musical chairs throughout the entire opera, by the end I believe she had sat in 4 of the 6 chairs at her disposal some of those more than once. A girl sitting next to us fell asleep without even a slouch in her back, I was pretty impressed, she was awakened by a rather high note, wiped the drool of her face, and went back to sleep. Clothing ranged from tuxes and gowns, to jeans and t-shirts, the tux and gown crowd were the funnest ones to listen to with their sophisticated remarks on the performance (such as stirring). All in all it was a great experience, one I would repeat in the future if the right opera came along.

Junior Recital

I wish I could sing.....I went to Catie Omer's Junior Recital this evening and can I just say she is amazing? She sang the first note and the thought flashed through my head: "Well you're definately out." Because I wouldn't in a million years be able to sing even the first note she sang. I had several friends in high school who had beautiful voices and I always envied that talent, but I came to the conclusion that while some have that gift, there need to be others around to appreciate it. I am a very big appreciater to make up for the very little talent I possess in this area. So thank you to all those out ther sharing their beautiful voices so I can enjoy them.
Side note: I love the people I work with, this was Deb's daughter's recital, and we had 3 of the 5 coworkers come out to support. I think that is pretty neat.

Real Salt Lake/One Republic Concert

For any of you who don't already know.....I LOVE going to Rio Tinto Stadium. It is one of the most beautiful, wonderful stadiums ever built in my opinion. We went to the game last night against Sporting Kansas City, and RSL won despite some pretty dumb refs. There was an after-game concert featuring One Republic that we were also greatly looking forward to. To my great surprise and delight they let the entire stadium of people onto the perfectly manicured field for the concert. Just to be honest with you, I am not sure what was better: the game, winning, the concert, or standing on that field at the midline and touching the grass of that place; I am seriously leaning towards the last item on that list. It was a fun night with my sisters and JD.

Ohana

This weekend was the Clarke Family Reunion up at the cabin in Bear Lake. It was SO much fun to be with every single one of my cousins. We were all trying to figure out the last time it happened and no one could even figure it out. Ages now go from myself at 24 down to 4. Ratio of girls to boys-11:3. The girls all watched Meet Me in St. Louis which is an "All American Classic" of craziness, and SO fun to watch in a room full of girls, some are ready to throw a themed party they were that inspired. Other activities included swimming at Ideal Beach, playing cards, Minute to Win It, lounging on the beach, reading books, take pictures of humming birds (JD), laughing and giggling girls, ukulele playing, singing, eating, talking, mingling, talk of fishing, golfing, and lots more fun. I love my family a ton and it was wonderful to all be together again. :)

Do you hear the people sing?

I love music. There is just something about it that I have always been drawn to. This week has been full of musical experiences. The U2 360 concert with The Frey was amazing, so much so it is kind of hard to find words to describe it. JD and I had the great opportunity to go to Les Miserables as well; a timeless piece of work that I remember listening to before I was 5. The new Pirates of the Caribbean music was released; I am in love with Hans Zimmer. And then tonight I have been winding in and out of some of my favorite artists: Switchfoot, The Shins, Weepies, This Holiday Life, and so on; I love how a song can automatically bring back a memory or just make you feel good because you are listening to it.

U2 360

Emi, Chris, Erin and I all had a blast at the U2 360 Concert last night. The Fray was a great opener, but nothing compared with what U2 had in store for the 50,o00+ people in attendance. Great music, great band, fun venue, and overall just a good, fun, clean concert (clean in multiple senses of the word). Bono thanked Utah a few times for the patience of waiting for them to come back a year after his broken back surgery which was pretty cool. He also sang a few Bob Dylan songs to honor his 70th birthday. Some of my favs included: Walk On, City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, and All I Want is You; really the whole concert was amazing. I have seen U2 perform before, but this tour took the term concert to a whole new level.

Dreaming of a Midsummer Night

JD and I had yet another fun experience of going to the Utah Symphony Orchestra last night, again for free! I love free dates! This time it was a Classic series which included music from Brahmes and Handel, the main portion of the show, however was excerpts from the opera based on Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. I thought it was well done, the narrators were amazing, not a huge fan of the opera pieces, but I was excited to see Fred Adams (founder of the Shakespearean festival in Cedar City) play the part of Puck. As we headed to the car, I asked JD what he thought of the evening. His response: "I'm pretty sure that I didn't understand

most of what was spoken this evening, but the music was nice." Maybe a trip to Cedar this summer is in order.....then again, maybe not.

Bravo Broadway: Wicked Divas

JD and I went to the Utah Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert on Thursday night and it was AMAZING. They featured several great songs sung by Stephanie J Block and Julia Murney, they were playing Elphaba in Wicked at the same time (trading off between traveling company and Gershwin theater in New York). Both were fantastic singers and performers. They sang a variety of songs, My Heart Will Go On, Ring Them Bells, All that Jazz, Think of Me, among others and ended with Defying Gravity, Popular, and For Good from Wicked. For past youth guild members, I only saw about 5 empty seats in the theater it was packed. I have never seen it that full. It was a fantastic performance. :)

Singing in the Rain

JD must really like me, because I was able to talk him into watching Singing in the Rain. For those who have seen it, I know you are thinking, what is there to talk into? But for those who have not seen the "musical treasure" skeptisism often takes precedence over enjoying this fantastic movie. JD even appreciated the ability of the actors to sing and dance and act. It surprised me how much of the dialogue I have memorized too. It was a really fun night. Interesting facts from the movie:

• The Singing in the Rain scene was filmed while Gene Kelly had a 103 degree fever. The rain water was mixed with milk so it would show up on the film better. This mixture happened to make Gene's suit shrink. They also went through quite a few umbrellas.


• Debbie Reynolds was 19 when filming the film and Gene didn't approve of her dance skills compared with his. One day, Fred Astaire (as in Fred and Ginger) found Debbie crying under a piano after Gene had yelled at her over her dancing and he offered to give her private dance lessons to get her to the level Gene wanted her at.


• Jean Hagen (Lina Lamont) actually dubbed over some of Debbie Reynold's songs in the film, with her normal voice of course.