Honor

For January my book club selected Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.  This charming novel is a contemporary comedy of manners in the vein of Jane Austen and I absolutely loved it!  Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) is a curmudgeonly widower living in the village of Edgecombe St. Mary (a village that sounds like it comes straight out of an Agatha Christie murder mystery).  He leads a quiet life and places a high value on duty, decorum, and, above all, honor.  He is unabashedly proud of his father's military service in India as well as a pair of Churchill rifles which were presented to his father by a maharajah.  He begins a friendship with Jasmina Ali, a widow from Pakistan who runs the village shop.  They bond over the loss of their respective spouses and a love of literature.  However, village society doesn't approve of this romance and the major must decide what is really important to him.  Major Pettigrew is a witty and delightful first-person narrator and I thoroughly enjoyed the scenes where he plans "spontaneous" encounters with Mrs. Ali, deliberates over what to wear, and rehearses what he will say to her.  It is nice to know that men can be just as nervous as women when beginning a relationship!  All of the characters are endearing and I think everyone can relate to the notion of choosing between what your family wants you to do vs. what you know will make you happy.  I highly recommend this delightful book!

Monday Motivator

"You alone are the judge of your worth and your goal is to discover infinite worth in yourself, no matter what anyone else thinks."

- Deepak Chopra

Nutty Snowmen

There hasn't been much snow this winter and, for a state that boasts having the greatest snow on earth, that's not a good thing!  Even if I can't make a snowman in my front yard I can still make these cute snowmen out of Nutter Butter cookies!

I found the idea here and they are very simple to make.  Microwave some white chocolate for 30 second intervals until completely melted.  Dip the Nutter Butter cookies into the melted chocolate using tongs and let the excess drip off before placing on waxed paper.  Arrange mini chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth, an orange tic tac for the nose, and mini M&Ms for the buttons.

Aren't they cute?  Give them a try!

The Talking Cure

This afternoon I saw A Dangerous Method which is based on the relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s.  I first heard about this film when it garnered a lot of buzz at the Venice Film Festival last fall and, as an admirer of Jung, I found the subject to be intriguing.  When a deeply disturbed Russian woman named Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) is confined to a mental hospital by her parents, Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) decides to use the controversial method of psychoanalysis espoused by Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) to treat her.  When Spielrein shows improvement, Jung uses her progress as an excuse to visit Freud.  At first Jung is a devoted acolyte and follows Freud blindly, but soon he develops his own ideas and disputes Freud's notion that sex is at the root of all neuroses.  Spielrein eventually leaves the hospital and decides to become a psychoanalyst herself.  Jung begins an affair with her but is deeply tormented by it and soon ends the relationship very cruelly.  Spielrein then seeks out Freud which devastates Jung.  Soon there is an irreparable rift between the two doctors which is brilliantly depicted by a series of letters, each one shorter and shorter, until there is silence.  I was absolutely riveted by the performances of Knightley, Fassbender, and Mortensen!  The scenes where Jung and Freud discuss their dreams are fascinating and the scene where Jung begs Spielrein not to go to Vienna is heartbreaking!  The plot moves very slowly but this movie is an emotionally-charged portrait of two intellectual giants who made enormous contributions to psychology and I highly recommend it.

Jazz vs. Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have an absolutely dismal record and the Utah Jazz have been lighting up the Western Conference lately.  So when the Jazz started walking all over the Raptors in the first quarter of tonight's game, leading by as many as 18 points, I thought it would be a blow-out!  Then Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza decided to make it interesting, ultimately ending the night with 25 points each for Toronto.  It was a very back-and-forth game after the first quarter with both teams tied at 50 at the half.  At the end of regulation the teams were tied once again at 90 thanks to a three-pointer by Jose Calderon.  Paul Millsap forced a double-overtime with a spectacular three-pointer of his own.  Unfortunately, the Jazz stumbled a bit at the free-throw line and the Raptors were able beat them at home for the first time since 2004 with a final score of 111-106.  Despite the loss, it was an exciting game to watch.  Even though Utah was without the services of Al Jefferson, Derrick Favors scored 16 points starting in his place, Devin Harris scored a season-high 24 points, and Paul Millsap scored a season-high 31 points.

Notes:  I got to hear O Canada at the beginning of the game and that always makes me happy.  I am normally not a fan of Linas Kleiza (I despised him when he played for the Denver Nuggets);  however, he is from Lithuania and, after watching The Other Dream Team yesterday at the Sundance Film Festival, I now have a soft spot for Lithuanian basketball players.  Tonight's game was the last in my three-game package but, with the way the Jazz have been playing lately, I am definitely going to have to see a few more games this season!

Sundance Film Festival 2012

Today I had the opportunity to take my AVID students to a screening at the Sundance Film Festival which is a forum for independent filmmakers to showcase their movies and, hopefully, find a larger distribution for them.  There is always an air of excitement surrounding the Sundance Film Festival because there exists the possibility of a celebrity sighting.  My students were hoping to see Drake who made an appearance at the festival last night!  Alas, no such luck!  However, we were able to watch an incredible documentary called The Other Dream Team.  Four Lithuanian basketball players, including future NBA stars Arvydus Sabonis and Sarunas Marciulionis, helped win the gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics for the Soviet basketball team.  This was a bittersweet victory because they played for a country they hated.  The Soviet Union had overthrown Lithuania after World War II and the people were oppressed with almost every family in the country affected by deportations to Siberia.  The four basketball players were strictly controlled and used as propaganda for the Soviet sports machine.  When Gorbachev instituted economic reform and policies of greater openness, the people of Lithuania fought for and achieved their independence.  The basketball team became a symbol of hope and inspiration for the newly independent nation at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics while the rest of the world focused on Team USA, dubbed the "Dream Team" because of the NBA players on its roster.  After losing to Team USA, the Lithuanians played an emotional game against the former Soviet republics to win the bronze medal.  This film is epic, using video from the actual basketball games, interviews with the players, and footage from events leading to the fall of the Soviet Union to tell a story about a country reclaiming its national identity.  I absolutely loved it but, more importantly, my students were completely riveted to the screen for the entire duration of the film.  I was beyond thrilled to see them engaged in the study of history through the filter of basketball.  At the conclusion of the film there was a thunder of applause which caused Jon Weinbach, one of the filmmakers at the screening for a Q&A, to lose his composure for a moment.

Note: Last week I was interviewed by the Salt Lake Tribune about my students attending the festival.  Having a photographer come out to the school to take my picture was absolutely surreal but the article is quite nice.  You can check it out here.

Opera Night!

My cousins and I had a lot of fun going to the opera several months ago so we decided to go again.   This time the opera was Rigoletto by Verdi and this time another cousin, Sarah, wanted to join us.  Seriously, who can blame her?  Who wouldn't want to spend an evening listening to amazing music?  We went to dinner at Olive Garden before the performance and it was absolutely delicious!  I absolutely loved Rigoletto!  It was Sarah's first opera and we agreed that it is one of the best productions we have ever seen so it was a good one for her to begin with!  The Duke of Mantua is known for seducing every woman he finds attractive and his court jester, Rigoletto, mocks the husbands of these women.  Count Monterone, the father of a woman shamed by the Duke, is arrested and curses both the Duke for what he did to his daughter and Rigoletto for teasing him.  Rigoletto has a beautiful daughter named Gilda who has fallen in love with a man she has seen at church.  This man is none other than the Duke.  All of the noblemen who have been scorned by Rigoletto abduct Gilda and take her to the Duke so he can spend the night with her.  Rigoletto vows vengeance but Gilda loves the Duke and begs her father not to harm him.  Rigoletto hires an assassin to kill the Duke and hires his sister to get the Duke to seduce her so Gilda will see that the he does not love her.  The assassin's sister falls in love with the Duke and begs her brother not to kill him but he has already taken the money and will not go back on his word.  They decide to kill a stranger to take his place.  Gilda overhears their plans and chooses to be killed in place of the Duke because she loves him so much!  When Rigoletto comes to throw the Duke's body in the river and discovers that his daughter has been killed instead, he realizes that Count Monterone's curse has been fulfilled.  Everything about this production is brilliant!  All of the actors have incredibly beautiful voices and the costumes and sets are amazing, especially the river.  I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had with my cousins and I look forward to next season when we can go again!

Monday Motivator

"A person desperately searching for love is like a fish desperately searching for water."

- Deepak Chopra

To The Last Man

I had a lot going on last week (all of it amazing) so I really wanted to have a relaxing weekend.  Tonight I ended up going to see the movie Red Tails and then to dinner at Iggy's with a friend and it was so much fun.  I really enjoyed the movie which tells the real-life story of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.  The navy doesn't think that "colored" airmen have the capability to fly important combat missions so they are stuck flying unimportant patrols in sub-par planes while the other squadrons of pilots stationed in Italy treat them with contempt.  Then their commanding officer, Colonel Bullard (Terrence Howard), travels to Washington to demand that their squadron either be allowed to fight or be shut down.  One general, in desperation, asks them to escort bombers.  On their first mission they bring every plane home safely and earn the respect of the bomber pilots.  While some of the characters are a bit cliched, I was really affected by the story of their bravery and willingness to sacrifice everything to bring the bomber pilots home.  The combat scenes are absolutely incredible.  You actually feel like you are in a dog-fight with a German fighter pilot and nothing feels computer generated.  I recommend this powerful movie about an amazing group of men.  I also recommend the nachos at Iggy's...

Facing The Music

Tonight I attended PTC's production of Find and Sign and the subject matter hit really close to home.  I am an English teacher who works with many students of a lower socio-economic status.  I am also the AVID Coordinator at my high school and my main focus is to help students prepare for and get accepted to college.  Julia, the main character in tonight's play, is an English teacher in the Bronx mentoring a very bright black student who has applied to Columbia University on her recommendation.  She meets Iago, a record executive trying to make an impact as a white man in the predominantly black world of hip-hop, and begins a relationship with him.  Julia plays a demo tape created by Mac, her student, for Iago and he immediately wants to sign Mac to his record label.  When Mac is accepted to Columbia, the relationship between Iago and Julia is threatened because each of them have differing opinions about what is best for Mac's future.  Wendy MacLeod's script is a brilliant social commentary on race but it is also a thought-provoking study of relationships.  I was fascinated by the character of Julia because her desire to help her student succeed is juxtaposed with her need for a meaningful relationship.  All of the actors are superb in their roles, especially Karl Miller as Iago.  The set is ingenious with the actors stepping fluidly from moving scene to moving scene while changing costume and the hip-hop music throughout is very effective.  I definitely recommend this play but some sensitive patrons might find the language offensive.  The couple sitting next to me left at the intermission.

Note:  Wendy MacLeod used the works of Jonathan Kozol, specifically Savage Inequalities, to inform some of Julia's opinions about education.  I read Savage Inequalities when I was in graduate school and it had a profound impact on where and how I teach!  

Tale As Old As Time

Today was a day off from school so Marilyn and I took Tashena to see the 3D version of Beauty and the Beast.  I absolutely love this movie and I think it just might be my favorite Disney animated film.  I'm pretty sure that Tashena loves it just as much as I do!  When Belle tells the Beast that she loves him Tashena actually had tears in her eyes!  I really love that the Beast is able to win Belle's heart by showing her his library!  That would do it for me!  During that scene Tashena leaned over and asked me if I wished that library was in my house!  It was such a fun afternoon!

Note:  I can't believe that it has been 20 years since Beauty and the Beast was originally released in theatres.  I remember that my boyfriend at the time and I took his younger siblings to see it at the drive-in.  I thought it was absolutely magical (except that the kids spilled popcorn all over my car).

Monday Motivator

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

- Martin Luther King, Jr. 

The Mortal Instruments

As many of you know I am an English teacher and it is very distressing to me how many of my students do not like to read.  I am always on the lookout for interesting teen fiction to recommend to my students for silent reading time.  When I see students reading a particular book I definitely pay attention and lately I have seen quite a few students reading The Mortal Instruments trilogy by Cassandra Clare (many students did their book report this term on these books).  I started reading the trilogy over Christmas break and, I am a little bit embarrassed to admit, I have been consumed by these books!  I have spent every second of my non-existent free time reading, often very late into the night!  The series is an urban fantasy set in present-day New York City and the plot revolves around three teens named Clary, Jace, and Simon.  The books are very well-written and Cassandra Clare has created a fully realized world with very compelling characters.  Teens are sure to love these books but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them (I guess I am just a fifteen-year-old girl at heart).

In City of Bones Clary witnesses a brutal murder committed by Jace but is shocked to discover that nobody else, including her friend Simon, is able to see what happened.  She eventually discovers that Jace is a Shadowhunter charged with ridding the world of demons and, since she can see him, she must be a Shadowhunter as well.  Jace tells Clary all about the Clave and she discovers that her mother is one of the most powerful Shadowhunters and has been hiding from the Clave for years.  When Clary tries to confront her mother she finds her apartment in disarray and her mother gone.  Jocelyn, Clary's mother, has been kidnapped by Valentine because she has the Mortal Cup which has the power to turn humans into Shadowhunters.  Valentine broke away from the Clave of Shadowhunters because of their alliance with the Downworlders (werewolves, vampires, fairies, and warlocks).  Clary and Jace must rescue Jocelyn and stop Valentine from using the Cup to amass an army to kill all Downworlders.

In City of Ashes Clary and Jace realize that they have feelings for each other but family secrets threaten to destroy their happiness.  Simon, distraught by the fact that Clary loves Jace and not him, turns to the Downworlders for solace.  Members of the Clave turn against each other over what to do about Valentine while he continues his vow to destroy the Downworlders by searching for the Mortal Sword which gives him the power to summon and control demons.

In City of Glass Clary, Jace, and Simon must travel to the ancient Shadowhunter country of Idris to stop Valentine from finding the Mortal Mirror.  Possessing all three Mortal Instruments will allow Valentine to summon the Angel Raziel who will grant him any request.  Valentine will use the request to kill all Downworlders and take control of the Clave.  Shadowhunters and Downworlders must join together in an epic battle against the demons summoned by Valentine while Clary and Jace must deal with their past in order to confront Valentine.

Note:  My students tell me that they are making a movie of the first book and that Jamie Campbell Bower, my current celebrity crush, has been cast to play Jace, my favorite character in the books!  Squeal!

Bravo Broadway

It was a lot of fun at Abravanel Hall tonight!  You can always count on a spectacular show when Utah Symphony Pops conductor Jerry Steichen comes to town but I particularly look forward to the Bravo Broadway concert every year.  Amazing soloists who have performed on Broadway singing songs from my favorite musicals with the fabulous Utah Symphony - what's not to love!  Tonight the theme was Dancing & Romancing and the program featured iconic song and dance numbers from Broadway and Hollywood.  The featured performers, Joan Hess and Kirby Ward, were unbelievably talented and included choreography and costumes with each number.  I really enjoyed all of the singing and dancing, especially some of the old standards like "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" from Crazy For You and "Cheek to Cheek" from Top Hat.  They just don't make musicals like that any more and the crowd was definitely appreciative.  Bravo!

Jazz vs. Cavaliers

Against my will I have been caught up in the excitement of cheering for the Utah Jazz once again!  Tonight's contest between the Jazz and the Cleveland Cavaliers was just so much fun to watch!  The Jazz dominated the Cavs for most of the game with four players ending the night in double digits.  Josh Howard and Derrick Favors scored 17 and 14 points respectively and, since it was my first chance to see them in action due to injuries in the last game I saw, I was quite impressed with both of them.  Paul Millsap was able to score 19 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter and Al Jefferson scored a season-high of 30 points!  I was also really excited to see Alec Burks (who just might be my new favorite) get a sweet dunk and to see CJ Miles, who has been in a shooting slump as of late, get an electrifying three-pointer in the last 36 seconds of the game to seal the 113-105 victory for the Jazz.  Utah has had their best start at home, 5-0, since the 2008-2009 season and tonight's win was their fifth in a row.  A lot to cheer about indeed!

Monday Motivator

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, they are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution."

- Deepak Chopra

The Enemy Is Within

I am a huge fan of espionage novels!  My Dad says that if a book has a swastika or a hammer and sickle on the cover I will read it!  In high school I literally devoured everything written by Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett, Jack Higgins, and Robert Ludlum but my favorite author, by far, was John le Carre.  So I have been eagerly waiting for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a new film adaptation of le Carre's classic tale, to get a wide release so I could see it.  It is 1973 and George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a former MI6 spymaster, has been called out of retirement to track down a possible Soviet mole within the upper echelon of the British intelligence service.  The suspects are codenamed tinker, tailor, and soldier (after the nursery rhyme) and, using a vast collection of characters from such places as Budapest and Istanbul, a meticulous case is made against each of them.  The scene where the identity of the mole is revealed is fraught with so much tension that I almost couldn't stand it but the plot moves very slowly and you must pay very careful attention to every little clue.  It might be a bit complex for anyone who has not read the book but I think the script is brilliant!  The acting of the ensemble cast is superb (Benedict Cumberbatch is becoming a favorite of mine) and the verisimilitude is so extraordinary that I almost thought it was actually filmed in 1973!  Fans of John le Carre will definitely enjoy this movie!

Note:  George Smiley features in several of le Carre's novels and, strangely enough, I always pictured him as looking something like Gary Oldman before I even knew who Gary Oldman was!

Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto 1

Tonight pianist Conrad Tao joined the Utah Symphony to perform Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and he played it brilliantly.  This piece is very emotionally charged and powerful but I also find it to be incredibly romantic!  The crowd at Abravanel Hall was very appreciative of Tao's rendition and demanded an encore which he provided by playing a piece by Liszt.  After the intermission, the orchestra played Symphony No. 5 by Shostakovich.  I really loved it.  Shostakovich wrote this piece under pressure in response to the Soviet government's criticism of his work but he got the last laugh because the public used it as a rallying cry against the oppression suffered under Stalin.  It was beautiful and very atmospheric.  It was a wonderful evening filled with amazing music.

Some Enchanted Evening

Tonight I went to the Capitol Theatre to see South Pacific.  I just love the old Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals and South Pacific is one of their best in my opinion.  It tells the story of Nellie Forbush, an American nurse stationed on a U.S. naval base during World War II, and her love for an expatriate French plantation owner with a dark past.  In between some beautiful songs such as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," and "This Nearly Was Mine," and some hilarious songs such "I'm Gonna Wash Than Man Right Outta My Hair," "Wonderful Guy," and "Honey Bun," there is a very powerful message about racism in the song "Carefully Taught."  I alsolutely loved the choreography in "There Is Nothing Like A Dame" with all of the Seabees singing and dancing!  So fun!  The little children are adorable and the three main leads, Katie Reid as Nellie Forbush,  Marcelo Guzzo as Emile de Becque, and Shane Donovan as Lt. Cable, are superb!  Donovan, in particular, has a beautiful voice.  The whole production is enchanting and I recommend it if you have a chance to see the touring company!

Whodunit?

Tonight I went to see the play The Game's Afoot at Hale Centre Theatre.  It is a murder mystery that is full of laughs!  After a performance of a play called Sherlock Holmes the lead actor is shot.  Thinking that he actually is Sherlock Homes, he invites the cast of the play, all of whom he suspects, to his country house in Connecticut on Christmas Eve to ferret out the culprit.  He also invites a rather nasty theatre critic to help him because everyone in the cast has a grudge against her.  Of course the theatre critic is murdered with a knife in her back and everyone is a suspect.  A bumbling inspector comes to investigate the crime but has to compete with the actor who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes to solve it!  Funny stuff.  The storyline is a bit convoluted but I loved all of the melodrama!  The actress playing the theatre critic (Margo Watson) is absolutely hysterical.  Many of the lines were flubbed and there were some malfunctioning props, most notably the knife that was supposed to stick in the theatre critic's back, but I suspect that these glitches will take care of themselves as the run progresses.  It is a fun show to start off the 2012 season.  Go see it if you can get a ticket!

Jazz vs. Bucks

I'll admit that I was so distraught after the lackluster performance the Utah Jazz turned in against the Dallas Mavericks in the fourth quarter of this game that I literally could not force myself to go to the remaining home games to finish out the 2010-2011 season.  I'll also admit that I have been so impressed with the young guns on the Colorado Avalanche, not to mention completely caught up in Tebow-mania with the Denver Broncos, that I didn't really miss basketball during the NBA lockout.  Consequently, I decided not to get Utah Jazz season tickets this year.  Once the season started, however, I became curious.  The Jazz have had some huge losses on the road but they have been solidly respectable at home.  I figured I could commit to a three-game package and my first game was tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks.  Even though I didn't recognize half of the team, I got caught up in the energy and excitement of the assembled crowd at the ESA.  We are the loudest fans in the NBA after all!  Despite a rather sloppy game, I really liked what I saw!  Al Jefferson can be hot and cold and tonight he was red-hot with 26 points and 10 rebounds.  I was very impressed with rookie Alec Burks who had more playing time in this game than in the previous games combined.  He ended the night with nine points and six assists.  I'll admit that I had so much fun watching the Jazz defeat the Bucks 85-73 that I am looking forward to going to a few more games.

Disavowed

Today was the last day of Christmas break and I had a really fun time with my family.  We all went to see Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and then we went out to lunch.  I am a huge fan of espionage books and movies and have, to varying degrees, been a fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise so I was really excited to see this latest installment!  In a word: it is awesome!  IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) infiltrates the Kremlin in Moscow to gain information identifying an agent called "Cobalt."  The mission is sabotaged by Cobalt himself who sets off a destructive bomb inside the Kremlin for which Hunt is blamed.  The entire IMF is disavowed but they learn Cobalt's identity and that he has stolen a nuclear launch-control device and is about to purchase stolen nuclear launch codes from a French assassin.  Even though they have no support or back-up the team must stop Cobalt in order to avert a nuclear war.  The action sequences are absolutely incredible including Hunt scaling the outside of the Burj Khalifa tower, the tallest building in the world, a car chase in a wind storm, and a fight between Hunt and Cobalt in an automated multi-level parking garage.  I recommend this movie for action adventure fans!

Monday Motivator

"Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future."   

- Deepak Chopra

A Boy And His Horse

I rang in the new year by going to one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen, Steven Spielberg's War Horse.  This movie tells the story of Albert, a young Devon farmboy, and his bond with Joey, a thoroughbred horse.  When Albert's family doesn't have the money to pay their rent, his father sells Joey to the British cavalry at the beginning of World War I.  Albert promises Joey that they will be together again and ties his father's war campaign pennant to Joey's bridle.  Joey is a miraculous horse who survives many harrowing battles in order to be reunited with Albert, who has been wounded in the Battle of the Somme, in one of the most heartwarming scenes on film.  I held back tears through much of the movie but they came flooding out when Albert calls Joey and they came flooding out once again when Albert finds his father's pennant!  I loved this movie!  Films about World War I are particularly emotional for me (I cry every time I watch Peter Weir's brilliant movie Gallipoli) because my great-grandfather was wounded in the Battle of Ypres.  The battle scenes are absolutely gut-wrenching but there is a kind of stark beauty to them.  I got goosebumps during an incredible cavalry charge with over a hundred horses!  The scenes shot in the Devon countryside are simply stunning.  Long time Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminsky has already been nominated for numerous cinematography awards!  The excellent cast is British, German, and French with the relatively unknown Jeremy Irvine admirably portraying Albert.  The cast of 238 horses is also pretty impressive!  This movie is Spielberg at his best and I definitely recommend it to everyone!