Visiting the Aquarium with My Family

 Last week we visited the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper UT.  This is the first time I've ever been to this aquarium.

When I was in the 4th grade my class went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, though I missed out because I had the flu.  The field trip was two days after my birthday, in which I was so sick on that day my Mom just handed me my presents because I was too weak to open them, so I was so incredibly sad to miss the trip.  Then when my youngest brother Robbie was in the 4th grade I was old enough to chaperone his trip. Kinda shows our age difference.  Going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium was such a cool experience, and I'm glad my little brother let me come.  Thrilled I got to finally see to the aquarium. The jellyfish section was my absolute favorite.

The Living Planet Aquarium is nice, it's no Monterey Bay, nothing is, but it was fun going through the exhibits with my family, looking at all the fish.

 Kinda looks like a space alien.

 The touch pool was a lot of fun.

 My parents.

 I really loved the shark tank.  It was oddly peaceful.

 Penguins!  love this pic.

 Super giant river fish.

My niece trying to hold butterflies.

Definitely worth the visit.  Glad we all went.

Salt Lake Comic Con Day 1

What do I so far think of the 2014 Salt Lake Comic Con?

Not much.

It's 4 PM.

I'm still in line.

Literally.

So I might as well write about it . . .

Last April during the SLC Comic Con Fan X, I thought it was insane walking directly into the entry room around 2 PM first day Thursday, only to be greeted by a huge wrap around line.

This year?  We got here around 1:30 PM and the line was wrapping around the block, on the outside, around the Utah Symphony building.

Last April there was a second entry next to Energy Solutions, so we thought we would try to go there, but it's closed this year.  Only one entry.

So then my Mom called my Dad who was having lunch at City Creek what he was planning, and he heard that the Megaplex at the Gateway was doing registration thanks to the Con film fest.  A long walk later we discovered that that offer was only available on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A long walk back we joined my Dad and brother Steven, who have been in line since 1:45 PM.

And now we're in that giant room, finally, the registration room, and it's nothing but chaos.  No direction.  Lines everywhere splitting off every which way.  Surround sound confusion and complaining.

At 4:19 I'm still not sure we're where we're supposed to be.

None of the volunteers know what is going on.

I found out, via Facebook, that the Cary Elwes forum was at 3:00.  That was one of the events I would have liked to attend.

Oh well.

At least I can now see the taunting glimmer of lights passed the reception entrance, as I inch along.

When I first saw the line at 1:30 I guessed it would take 3 hours.

I might have been generous.

(4:33, far from entering, still in line.)

Terrible management and planning.

(Blogger wouldn't let me post this blog post while I was in the building.  It's 8:49, and my feet are tired.  Last time I didn't get to look at any booths, so I took that opportunity today, since no panels sounded particularly interesting.

BTW, the Hobbit booth is AWESOME.  Can I say how excited I am to finally see the end to the Hobbit trilogy?  Ex-ci-ted.

And the Evermore booth is fun this year.  FYI, if there's a unique small junk item you wouldn't mind getting rid of, you can trade it for a really cool Evermore Park coin, as long as the trader guy doesn't already have it.

And the Evermore Park booth is right next to a super fun LEGO booth.

And one last point, I finally got into the Con at 5:30, nearly a 4 hr. wait.  It took them almost 8 minutes to give us 7 wrist bands.  When we left after 8:00, there was still a super long line inside the registration room.  I feel bad for those people.  A long wait just for a wrist band.)

Video Games Live in Salt Lake City

This is happening!

Video Games Live!!

Of course it isn't until this September, so I can't wait.  I feel extremely lucky its coming to Salt Lake City at all.  Steven and I have been talking about Video Games Live for years, noticing what cities were getting it, and whether we should plan a trip.

We don't have to go anywhere!  Except a short trip into Salt Lake this September, the same weekend as the Salt Lake Comic Con, which was totally by design, I'm sure.  I'm not complaining at all. 

The Utah Symphony will be performing, and they're fabulous.

Now, until then, I'll be listening to the Kingdom Hearts medley I downloaded to my IPod years ago.

Don't want to wish my life away, but September can't come soon enough.

Dead Sea Scrolls at The Leonardo

 This last week is the very last week the Dead Sea Scrolls: Life and Faith in Ancient Times was at The Leonardo in Salt Lake City.  The exhibit lasted from November 22, 2013-April 27, 2014, which is today.  I've known about this exhibit since Summer of last year, and I finally saw it.

The whole exhibit was amazing, costing $24, which seemed steep at first, but was worth every penny.

A few Dead Sea Scrolls were on display, along with over 600 artifacts from that era.

 The first room we entered into was dark with writing on the wall, the same phrase written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and English.  Suddenly the Hebrew phrase was lit, and a narration sounded throughout the room, beautiful melodic inflections.  The English phrase was read next.  I wish the Aramaic and Greek phrase were read as well, but alas, they weren't.

Then we entered a larger room with a path for everyone to walk on, sand and rocks on the side, screens with video everywhere.  Another narration sounded, this time live as a women came out and explained the pots, ending with the pots the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

 The year was 1947 near the Dead Sea.  Goat herders discovered a cave with several clay jars, inside were animal skins, papyrus, and parchments written in unfamiliar languages to the herder.  From 1947 to 1956 there were 972 documents discovered, the oldest surviving record of the Hebrew Bible, all books accounted for except the Book of Esther.

 "None of the dead can rise up and answer our questions.  But from all they have left behind, their imperishable or slowly dissolving gear, we may perhaps hear voices, which are only now able to whisper, when everything else has become silent."

~ Bjorn Kurten, Finnish Paleontologist

 There were two levels to the exhibit, and unfortunately we were only able to take pictures on the top level.  No photography whatsoever was allowed below, so this was all I was able to snap.  Old coins, tools, ceramics, oil lamps, and other neat things.

The bottom level was where the majority of the artifacts were displayed.  Usually when I go to a museum people gloss over the information listed by each object, but during the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit everybody was reading everything.  It was nice, slowing the experience down as I took everything in.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were displayed in a giant circle table, very careful light and temperature controls in place.  There was a passage about the New Jerusalem, a War Scroll, the Damascus Document, a Jubilee, Psalms, and a passage from the "Book of Watchers" to name a few.  Very interesting.  Purely amazing that they're so well intact, even through the excerpts are scattered fragments.

(image info, public domain)

The very last room of the exhibit was very special.  They recreated the Western Wall from Jerusalem, with scraps of paper for everyone to write prayers on a place in the wall cracks.  And in the middle of the wall was an actual stone from the wall that, "Fell from the southwest corner of the Temple's outer wall during the fighting.  It is a remnant of the retaining wall that enclosed it, 2000 years ago." 

The stone was the only thing we could touch in the entire exhibit, and I just let my hand rest on the stone after writing and placing my prayer.  It was extraordinary.

What I wrote:

"Dear Lord, My God and King.  Help me, in these Last Days, when wrong is right and right is wrong, when the righteous shall be persecuted for thy sake.  Please bless me with strength to endure and serve thee, for I love thee with all my heart.  Patiently waiting and living in thee.  Sarah" 

Harry Potter at the Utah Symphony

Last month Krista and I decided to peruse the Utah Symphony website to see if there was a concert we wanted to go to.  It was she who discovered The Magic of Harry Potter, conducted by Vladimir Kulenovic, highlighting pieces from the first three movies by John Williams, mixed with other delightfully magical pieces.

At the time there was only a Tuesday performance, but due to overwhelming demand the Utah Symphony added a Wednesday date.  As a gift Krista quickly bought tickets so we could all go as a family, siblings + my Mom.  My Dad volunteered to babysit.

The entire hall has sold out, which was awesome to see!!

 

 Erin (Krista's sister), Krista, Michael, and a mischievously looking Robbie.

 Steven and I.

 The pieces we heard performed!  The conductor wanted to mix in enchanting classical pieces amongst Harry Potter, to introduce classical music to those who may have never heard it performed.  Which, trust me, you haven't lived until you've sat in front of a live Symphony.  The power.  The energy.  There's no way to describe the feeling.

Heh, as a note, I've discovered that it's impossible to listen to The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas without seeing Mickey.  The whole time I'm like: "This is where Mickey falls asleep" "This is when the brooms come alive" "Mickey's drowning!!"  It's pretty funny.  The power of imagery and a childhood enlightened by the classics.  Thanks Disney and Fantasia.

We need a new Fantasia.

 I got a circle of 5ths mouse pad.  The music geek in me couldn't resist.  It was an ongoing joke with my Dad and I for the longest time.  When I attended College of the Sequoias back in 2001, my Dad drove me one day to Visalia for class.  On the way back he asked me what I learned.  "The Circle of 5ths," I replied.  "What's that?" he asked.  So I explained it, and with me being me, detailed and all, within 5 minutes my Dad was yelling "Stop! Stop! I can't take any more."  Confused.  I don't know if he was joking about this aspect of music theory being too much, he use to read Calculus books before going to bed, but it was pretty funny.  Since then, whenever I'd start talking about music, he would shout, "Circle of 5ths!  Circle of 5ths!"

 A glass art structure in the Abravanel Hall lobby, in commemoration of the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics.  Whenever I see it I think balloon art or underwater coral.  I believe it's supposed to represent Fire, but I'm not sure.

 

 Right after the performance, which got out around 8:55 pm, we had just enough time to visit Swarovski, which is our favorite store in City Creek.  So many pretty things to look at.  And we were delighted by a water/fire show next to Nordstrom's.

Overall a really fun night, ending with dessert at Denny's.

Vladimir, The Magic of Harry Potter conductor, seemed to have the greatest time, saying really cute jokes between pieces as he explained why some music was selected.  So much fun.

And after a search I just did on the Symphony website, I discovered Video Games Live is coming in SEPTEMBER!!!!!  Do you know how huge that is??!!  Do you know how much I want to go!!!!!?????  Happy thoughts.  Saving up for it.  In the meantime I'll listen to the soundtrack on my iPod.  (The Kingdom Heart piece is the best.)

 
 (I Found this on Facebook)

Music is Magic :0)