'Crazy Love' Excerpt

Recently, I finished reading a book entitled Crazy Love that I had received for Christmas and have been reading on and off throughout the year. It's a great book and very challenging for me if I'll keep taking it to heart. While there are certainly stories strewn all throughout the book, there is one chapter specifically dedicated to others personal accounts of Christ in their lives. They were all fascinating, but this one was my favorite and I wanted to share it.


Jamie Lang
When Jamie was twenty-three years old, she flew from the United States to Tanzania with $2,000 from her savings account. She planned to stay until she ran out of money, at which point she would come home.

Jamie was overwhelmed by all of the need that she encountered, so she started praying that God would allow her to make a radical difference in one person's life. After about six months, she met an eight-year-old girl at church who was carrying a baby on her back. Jamie learned that the baby's mother was dying from AIDS and that she was too weak to care for him. Jamie begin to buy formula for the little boy, Junio, to provide him with the nutrition he desperately needed. At the time, he was half the size of a healthy baby.

Jamie fell in love with baby Junio. She wondered if she was being foolish - a barely twenty-four-year old, single, white American entertaining thoughts of adopting a baby. Besides, she didn't even know if Tanzania allowed international adoptions. Eventually, she discovered that the country didn't allow international adoptions; however, because she had lived there for over six months, she could establish residency.

Before Junio's mom died from AIDS, she came to Junio and said, "I have heard how you are taking care of my son, and I have never known such a love. I want to be saved." Just before she died, she said, "I know that my son is taken care of, and I will see him in heaven someday."
Jamie spent six months going through the adoption process and then five more months working with the American embassy to get Junio a visa. When she finally came home, she had been gone for a year and a half.

Junio is now five years old, totally healthy and HIV negative. When Junio's mom was pregnant with him, she took a "morning-after pill" late in her pregnancy in order to abort him. But instead it induced premature labor, and because Junio was so small, no bleeding occurred during his birth. Thus, he did not contract HIV from his mother. What was intended to end his life, God used to save it. Since adopting Junio, Jamie has gotten married, had a little girl, and is moving back to Tanzania with her family to work with Wycliffe to translate the Bible for a group that has never heard it before.

          - from the chapter "Who Really Lives That Way?" (p 152-153)


Speaking of crazy love, I know of a teenage girl that's been really struggling with her health - she has very recently undergone very major heart surgery and her & her family are still having to take it very carefully day by day. All my information is third or fourth hand, but could you send up a short prayer for her & her family? She's only 14 and was very frightened. I know any would be greatly appreciated.

Only Three More Months....

Do you know what three months from today is?

Think about it.... thiiiink about iiiiit....

Christmas!

Actually, I hadn't put that together at all. Grandma was the one who pointed it out to me earlier.

That's going to go by so quick.

So I've decided to officially begin Christmas shopping October 1st. After last year's debacle of starting too late (halfway through November) I'm not repeating that again. And sure, I should have gone ahead and started in September, but for some reason that just seems so early... That's barely even fall. And then half the time I worry I'll forget where I've put them that early on anyway. October, however, that's kind of the kickoff to the holiday season: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas... I can do that.

Has anyone else started yet? Or do you work better at the last minute?

And it goes like this.

So this past Thursday night Regina & I trekked up to the OKC Zoo Amphitheater for the Train & Maroon 5 concert. Originally there were five of us, but Brad, Holly & Sam weren't able to make it for varying reasons. :/ Sad day. Although the concert wasn't until 7:00, we headed up there right after I got off work. Since we walked into the venue right on the dot I was really glad we left when we did.

I've only been to three other concerts at the Zoo Amp, but that's enough to know with the thousands of people in the first-come-first-served outdoor venue you're never going to be able to push your way down to the front that late, and especially not be able to see even if you do. I've spent the other three concerts way off to the side or far in the back. But somehow, we made it closer than I've ever been before and had a fantastic viewing point AND managed not to block anyone else's view. Seriously. It was awesome. I was so excited. 

This concert was so FUN. Giddy. Giddy is a good word for it, because Regina & I were pretty ridiculously giddy the whole time. Partially because they were both bands we were really anticipating, but also because of how nice the crowds were and our clear line of sight to the stage. (Okay, okay, and because both bands have front men with these gorgeous tenor voices.)

Regina's Pic of Train.

Train was up first, opening with the the sounds of a train revving up (I was so stupidly happy, I didn't even get that reference until AFTER THEIR SET, ahaha. We'll blame it on the happiness. And not the obliviousness.) and launching into "Parachute." Which I thought was a strange opening song, but I was still glad to hear it. And after that I have no idea of what order the songs came in. They teased with bits and pieces of "Soul Sister" throughout the concert and finally concluded with it. They did come out for a short encore where they finally played "Drops of Jupiter" and finished out with "This Ain't Goodbye."
Also - and this works really well with all their music homages on Francisco - they did a set of cover songs for about twenty minutes as well. That included a mashup between "Heart of Glass" and "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" that was brilliant and ended with the entirety of "Dream On" that was pretty fantastic.
(Other songs included: Save Me San Francisco, She's On Fire, Meet Virgina(!), Calling All Angels, If It's Love, Words, Marry Me.)

Maroon 5 threw the gates open from the get go opening with none other than "Moves Like Jagger" and that energy maintained itself throughout the rest of the show by the crowd as well as the band. They were great, with such high energy, excellent instrumentals and very entertaining to watch even though I only knew about three songs. They, of course, also came out for an encore and concluded their whole set with (I have to admit) a beautiful rendition of "She Will Be Loved." I guess enough time has passed now that I apparently am no longer sick of the song. It just had waaay too much airtime when it first came out.
(Other songs included: Stutter, Misery, How, Wake Up Call, Hands All Over, Harder to Breathe, She Said Goodbye, Sunday Morning, Without You, Never Gonna Leave This Bed aaand a lot of others.)

And, as Regina pointed out, the bands were great compliments to each other in concert. Train was a much more relaxed band onstage - not necessarily peppy or trying to overblow their songs, but just enjoying being there and focusing on interacting a lot with the crowd. Maroon 5, on the other hand, were the showmen who talked very little, paced their show very well and blasted through a ton of songs and great instrumentals.  So we enjoyed the different tempos of the two together.

Yeah, it was great. Due to city ordinances, the concert had to end by 10:30 and they landed on that number exactly, but each band still had about an hour and fifteen minutes to play. So still lots of time with both. I'm excited to hear Train's in the middle of working on their next album, and I really hope its as strong as the last one was.

Good times, good times.

With drops of jupiter in her hair.

We're currently in the middle of a wedding at work. It's turning out really nice - all burgandys, purples and golds. Very rich, lush colors. And while we've still got a ways to go, we did manage to finish one of the biggest time consuming aspects of it today - the reception pieces which I believe averaged a design time of 40 minutes each.  What should that tell you? That's essentially the same amount of time we average on casket pieces (and sometimes even those are shorter).  Blah. I felt like I was running in slow motion. But at least they're super pretty.
Part of the reason they required so much time is simply some of them came in the wrong color (this happens frequently). Which means we have to spend time playing with the floral paint to determine the right match and then go back through and individually paint each flower.
Part of the other reason is there were so many different flowers going in the piece (roses, thistles, dahlias, freesia, euc, amanrathus, hypericum berries....) and there were often colors for each flower. So not only were we constantly trying to ensure we had all those flowers in, we had to ensure we had each color of each flower in. And roses and thistles were the only ones in one color.

Are you actually interested in that? I never know. Oh well. I am.

In exciting news: this Thursday is the Train/Maroon 5 concert! I've wanted to see Train ever since I first heard "Drops of Jupiter" in 2001. (That was ten years ago?) Subsequently, I fell in love with the earlier released "Meet Virginia" and then the band dropped entirely off the map after their lesser acclaimed Private Nation album. (According to Wikipedia, they released another album in 2006 and then went off the map. Who knew?) I was really sad about this. I felt like they had such great potential and just hadn't quite completely found their sound yet.

Fact: "Drops of Jupiter" has actually never left my Top 5 Favorite Songs list since that first listen. I love the imagery, I love the whimsiness of the lyrics, I love the melody.

Then one day at work the radio was actually on a pop station (a rarity) and this chorus was so incredibly catchy and happy I immediately starting looking up the song.
And, as you may guess, it was "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train.
I do believe I jumped out of the chair and chanted "They're back! They're back!" but its all a blur now.

While I immediately downloaded this incredibly happy song (that I still love two years later), I was still on the fence about whether to download their whole album. I mean - they've had some successes with radio hits, but not necessarily entire albums. But I risked it and Save Me, San Francisco is certainly one of my best purchases. They do an excellent job of carrying touches of a theme throughout the entire listen, but each song stands on its own. They're back with great melodies, fun lyrics and lots of homages other pieces of music that make me smile. True, I skip "Breakfast in Bed" almost every time (what a bizarre song), but that's the only one.

As for Maroon 5, well, I know I've heard their songs but I couldn't tell you what exact ones they were except for their most recent. Nonetheless, they'll probably be great showmen and I'm glad to see them.

Bedtime. Bedtime, bedtime, bedtime.

Theatre News: Movie Musicals

WAIT. WAIT. WAIT.
This post was totally going to be about Les Miserables. And it will be eventually. I promise.

BUT I HAVE BIGGER NEWS.

For its 25th anniversary, Phantom of the Opera is going to be released fully staged on the big screen and DVD with Ramin Karmiloo as the Phantom.

Ramin is only underneath Anthony Warlow in my Phantom dreamworld. Sure, he equally shares that title with Earl Carpenter, but that's it.

I mean, just listen:




 That, my friends, is what the Angel of Music should sound like.

He is also currently playing the Phantom in Love Never Dies and yes, he's entirely too young. But if they're going to go for young anyway, pick this guy.

 Oh wait - a FULLY STAGED version?! With 200 cast & orchestra?!

Seriously, I have no words for this. I've waited for this for SO. LONG. In fact, after the movie was made, I just gave up that a staged version would ever be filmed. I figured that was it.

BWAHAHAHA! SO HAPPY!

But, wait! That's not all!

Have you heard? It's official, via Cameron Mackintosh: Les Miserables will be coming to the big screen December 2012.

Um...didn't you just say that was a rumor, all of two days ago?
Yes.

Look, I've been hearing about a Les Mis movie for over 10 years. And I know there was talk of making one after it became big in the 80's. So I had reached the point where I treated all movie talk of it as rumors. But it's official! So let's take a look.

Apparently its being produced by Working Title, directed by Tom Hooper (King's Speech) and the two leads are already cast: Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean and Russell Crowe as Javert. Of course, acting wise, that's pretty awesome casting. And it's already well established Jackman can sing.

So the big question is: can Russell Crowe sing this role?

Yes, I know he has a band.You can imagine since I first heard the casting I've pretty much just been going back and forth between finding clips of him singing and reminding myself of Javert's role.

Here's a clip:


Russell Crowe has a solid dusky, low voice. But I'm really concerned about that voice with songs like "Stars" and "Javert's Suicide." You can't talk-sing those songs. You just can't. It doesn't work. Will mentioned tonight that you have to have solid singers for this piece "because, really, nothing about this story ought to be glamorous. the only things that are beautiful are the music and the character journeys." And that's dead on.
However, it sounds like he has a good framework for singing, so there's a good chance they can keep developing that and work with him.

Anyway here's "Stars," for reference:


So lots of excitement tonight and things to keep an eye on! Now here's hoping I can sleep tonight.

D'awww.... Red Panda Cuteness.

Aww.... red pandas have been born at the Zoo!

Curious. I remember the red pandas being born last year, but I don't remember seeing them. Does anyone else remember them? I just remember the two adults. But it also sounds like they moved them pretty quickly. Sadly, the article doesn't mention whether we get to keep these or not and I guess its doubtful since we didn't keep the others. But with the new Asia exhibit next up to bat maybe someday we'll get to see the baby red pandas. 

Either Celeste or Yoda! OKC Zoo

Then I became curious what baby red pandas looked like.

Pic by the Edmonton Zoo

D'awww....! Too cute.

Awww......!!

Love the tail curl. 

Seriously, this last little one has such an awesome expression on his face. Okay, that's a good note to end on. Sweet dreams, everyone!

Goggles & All

So let's talk Catwoman.

Since I first heard they were bringing Selina Kyle into the Nolan verse, I was a little nervous. Of course, if anyone can pull her off in a solid way its Nolan and his team. But since Catwoman is always done, I was just hoping they would pull another character in.

But! It was still okay.

And then they cast Anne Hathaway, and it was still okay. I thought it was weird, but hey! I trust them. They've done excellent so far.

And then came the goggles. Oh, the goggles.

I was sad. Just...sad. The rest of it was fine...but the goggles. Eh.

But truth is, I have no context for the goggles. How does she even get them? Does she steal them? That would work. Does someone give them to her? Does Batman give them to her?
As long as she doesn't make the goggles, it works.

Yay! We're okay again!

And here's the deal: I LOVE her look as Selina Kyle. And this latest pic? Wow. Wow, wow, wow. She looks awesome.

Less than a year to go.

I have these amazing friends.

Alright, blogger,  first post in the new interface! Let's see how this goes. 

This Labor Day weekend consisted of an AWESOME trip to the OKC Zoo with AMAZING friends. (Worthy of the caps.) We're talking weather in the 70's, people. It was wonderful.

This, of course, added to the fun:

I think this was greedy giraffe.

I got to feed the giraffes again! Thanks to Eric, who had cash.

How much do my friends love me?  I mean, seriously, that's twice now someone's paid for me to feed giraffes.  Because they knew it would make my day (and it did).

I even got a "I fed the giraffes at the Zoo" button.

You guys rock.

Though I promise I'll bring my own money next time! I just didn't know OKC had this yet.

I'll probably post more about the Zoo later. But I'm going to bed early tonight and YOU CAN'T STOP ME. Bwahahaha.

(Okay, fine, if I can't sleep, I'll detail it out tonight. Rar.)

The Theatre Round-Up

We haven't talked theatre in awhile and I did do some catching up tonight.

Apparently, Newsies is on its way to becoming a stage musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse, with Menken back at the musical helm and Harvey Fierstein with a new script. The newest additions/changes to the familiar story are the addition of a reporter love interest and "Santa Fe" now being at the top of the show. Take a look at the video and tell me what you think.
Also, you should note Andrew Keenan-Bolger's name in the lineup as Crutchie - you may remember his sister Celia Keenan-Bolger as Olive in the Broadway version of 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee.



Check this out: George Lee Andrews has played in Phantom of the Opera ever since it opened on Broadway in 1988 and will be performing his final show tomorrow night. This will be his 9,382nd performance. That's nine-thousand. He currently holds the Guinness World Record for the longest run in the same show (I would certainly hope so!) He played Firmin for years, but to give some fresh life to his performance, they switched him over to Andre in 2000. I've never seen Phantom on Broadway, but now I wished at some point I had to possibly catch his performance. Sure, I wouldn't have known it at the time, but I would've loved to have gone back to that playbill now to see.
I'm so sad I had never heard of this guy until now! Bravo to an insanely long run, Mr. Andrews!

Eh. This is totally rumor mill, but here you go anyway. Supposedly, they're back to making a movie musical rendition of Les Miserables. This is nothing new. This has been on again, off again for years. According to the article, its being currently developed by Working Title & Universal and will be directed by Tom Hooper of Kings Speech. And, of course, the rumors are the stars involved and the most recent one is Anne Hathaway as Fantine.
While we're discussing rumors, here's other names being bandied about:
"According to www.itsonthegrid.com, additional actors being courted for the film have included Russell Crowe for Javert, Geoffrey Rush for Thenardier, Helena Bonaham Carter for Madame Thenardier, Hayden Panettiere, Miranda Cosgrove, Lucy Hale and Emma Watson for the roles of Eponine and Cosette, and Amy Adams and Rebecca Hall for Fantine."

While in the midst of looking up some of those names, I learned Rebecca Hall is actually the daughter of director Peter Hall! Interesting. And though not in that particular listing, Hugh Jackman is supposed to be set for Javert and one of the ones pushing the project.
After Phantom, I'm not really crazy about this. The idea of a star-studded cast trying to sing its way through this score doesn't really thrill me. Blah blah blah, they only have to get it right once, blah blah blah.
Buuut who knows, maybe they will be able to sing this time. Sacha Baron Cohen rocked Sweeney. Ewan McGregor caught everyone totally off guard. I'm totally willing to go with it if they can find singers. And who knows if it will ever actually be made anyway.

Frank Wildhorn's new show will be arriving soon on Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde will be in previews November 4th with opening set for December 1st. Lyrics by Don Black of Andrew Lloyd Webber fame: Sunset Boulevard, Aspects of Love and Tell me On a Sunday. (Also, apparently his first big hit was writing the lyrics for Bond's Thunderball theme. Thank you, Wikipedia!)

And I kept trying to find one more piece of news, but nothing else has really caught my attention. Anything interest anyone else?

Update on Cirque: Zarkana

I actually wrote this post weeks ago when Zarkana was first getting notice, but unfortunately it got shoved in my draft drawer and has lived there since. Anyway, for what its worth....

Cirque, to me, is often art for arts sake. Bizarre for the sake of being bizarre. Beauty for the sake of creating something beautiful. I love that about their work. I think that's partially why I was disappointed in KA even though it was one of their greatest technical works at that time (and potentially, still is.) In KA they built it around a fully realized story. Which was fine. But it lost some of its wonder to me. Mystere, which is by far my favorite, has no real story and is one of their oldest productions. It is thinly tied together by recurring images. And I was in awe the whole time.

(Of course, the beautiful artwork on the ceiling of that particular theatre helped.)

If you ever go to Vegas, see Mystere.

Now, Zarkana!

"Zarkana, according to Cirque notes, “is a fantastically bizarre world where we follow the adventures of Zark, a magician who has lost his love and, with her, his powers. As he cries and begs for her return he is plunged into a world inhabited by surreal creatures. The diverse cast of 71 international artists transports the audience into a fantastical and suspenseful world, blurring the boundaries between the real and imaginary.”

It looks like this is a return to loose stories. Yes, there is a tie between images, but the focus is not in fleshing out the story but in the creations that come from it. I wouldn't like that in all mediums, but for Cirque it works. At least for me.
It also looks like this show includes sand painting, which I would love to see how they handle. The shadow puppetry in KA is one of my favorite moments in theatre and was incredibly beautiful.

(If you have not seen this video of sand painting from Britain's Got Talent you really have to stop and watch it. It just blows my mind every time.)


Distracted. Back to Cirque.

All that to say: their latest video really excites me. I'm a huge Cirque fan. And even though its at Radio City Music Hall and will probably never tour (since it was built specifically for that space), I still want to make sure you at least see the clip.

Video of Zarkana! Cirque's newest addition to their already amazing lineup: