Reflecting on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream coat: Middle School Memories

Over the weekend I saw a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat at the Hale Center Theater in Orem UT.  It was fantastic, and unfortunately we saw it on the very last day of performance, so we can't go see it again.  The choreography, costumes, singing, and fun floor were top notch.

And it took me back to my middle school days at Pioneer Middle School (PMS . . . ) in Porterville.  We had a drama club that met after school, and it was so popular you had to audition to be in it.  My eighth grade year we performed Joseph, and I was one of four narrators.  For a production put on by 7th-8th graders it was pretty good.  And boy did we have fun.  So much fun.  It was a blast.

But it was strange watching the show last Saturday.  I used to have every song completely memorized, but I honestly don't think I've heard the music in well over a decade.  The songs familiar and new somehow.  The humor and one liners fresh.  It was strange realizing how much I'd forgotten!  Kinda makes me feel old :P

Saturday's Warrior, Mini Movie Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

I grew up hearing stories about the very first production of Saturday's Warrior in 1974.  My Grandparents knew Doug Stewart who wrote the LDS musical, and my Mom saw it on opening night and then got to go to the cast party.  She told me that story again last week.

It's hard to explain the phenomenon of this musical to someone who isn't Mormon.  I was a child of the 80's/90's and this musical maintained popularity all the way through my growing up.  Everyone knew the songs.  I had the "Line Upon Line" song memorized, singing it randomly at times as a reminder that understanding the gospel is a process.

And I still remember taking a Dating and Courtship class over at the Institute of Religion more then a decade ago, and hearing my teacher exclaim, "There's no such thing as soul mates!  It's not like Saturday's Warrior!"  You know the conundrum girls face while waiting for a Disney prince?  it's nothing compared to the misconception girls in the LDS faith face thanks to this musical.  Saturday's warrior is very Mormon.  Very.  And there's no explaining anything.  The musical hops right into it.

The musical mainly starts with pre-mortality, the idea that our spirits existed before this life, that we all lived together as a large family.  In past versions this part of the play is represented by a star backdrop and mist on the ground.  In this new version pre-mortality is represented as a large room.  There's doors leading out, but we don't see beyond the doors.  But inside we see everyone meeting.  The main family, all siblings, waiting to be born, singing about what life will be like.  The soul mates pledging their forever love for one another.  And the future missionary companions singing about how they're going to rid the Earth of sin; the lack of humility with one future Elder apparent.

It's not until we see all these characters on Earth living in mortality that Saturday's Warrior become truly interesting.  I cried so many times!

And I'm glad they decided to set the movie in the 70's instead of making it modern.  It really does work better this way, and the songs fit better as well.

Their are some changes between play to movie, but they're good changes.

The songs are still fun.  (They got rid of the really corny songs and added some new ones!)  And the cast is really good, corny moments aside.

My main complaint is with the lip singing during the songs.  The reverb added to the vocals separates what we see, and when watching it's obvious the music was all pre recorded.  Some actors are better then others at this.

Still this is a fun version of Saturday's Warrior that was crowdfunded through Kickstarter.  Over $100,000 was raised on the site.

For any fan of the original Saturday's Warrior, this is a must see.

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements throughout

Virtual Races, Hogwarts Running Club, Charity Miles, and Charity Accountability

Last month I completed the 50 mile endurance challenge by Races For Awareness supporting colon cancer.  It was a virtual run, which means I registered for the "race" online, and then completed the miles on my own time, broken up over several days.  I actually received the medal before completing the miles, along with a little memo pad and a fruit & veggie strip.

 And I already ordered and received the Encore Performance pins for April and May, in which I am striving to walk/run another 50 miles each month.  It's nice because I can pin these to my medal ribbon without buying another medal.

There's also a 100 miles challenge supporting the Epilepsy Foundation.

And a brand new 200 miles challenge supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

 I'm aiming for the 100 mile challenge in June and 200 challenge in July.

Maybe this all seems a little silly.  Log on, pay $20-$35 depending on the race, and receive a medal!  Essentially it's a participation award, but a participation award I bought for outright, and it's supporting a charity, too.  And they're really cool.

Also, I like the motivation.  I really struggle with motivation, and the races that I've done have kept me on track, though I have faltered a little after the end of last month.

 I first found out about virtual runs through FaceBook advertisements.  The first time I've clicked on an add and bought what they were selling.  It was an advertisement for Make Yes! Happen The Race to Oz.  It was a cool medal, but the funny thing is I haven't done it yet.  I was distracted by The Watson Clinic Digital Dash 2016, because the medal was an Eiffel Tower, and I liked how it was supporting a charity.  (The main Make Yes Happen races don't support charities.  If a charity isn't mentioned, there isn't one.)  But other groups can use this website to create races to support whatever charity they are raising funds for.

That's how I found Geek'd Out Running Club, because they were hosting the Baker Street Bound on Make Yes Happen, with a Sherlock Holmes theme, supporting Badges Supporting Fallen Officers Families (Fallen).

And it was through the Geek'd Out Running Club FaceBook page that I found out about The Hogwarts Running Club.  Can I express right now how much I love the Hogwarts Running Club?!  The Facebook groups are so encouraging, and there are so many good people in this club.  The medals are fun, currently they're hosting The Umbridge Run supporting My Stuff Bags.

So far The Hogwarts Running Club has raised $420,000 in just the first two years.

And it's thanks to this club that I found out about Charity Miles.  We use Charity Miles to earn extra money for our personal charity of choice, and depending on which Hogwarts house you claim, I'm a Gryffindor and belong to that team, the miles you run/walk/bike go towards house points.

You download the Charity Miles app to either your iPhone or Android.  The downside is that you must wear the phone either in a purse, by holding, or another method for the miles to count.  Outdoor Walk/Run tracks via GPS.  Indoor Walk/Run goes off of movement, so if you set the phone on top of the treadmill it's not going to do anything, you must wear it in a way so that it can count each step.  Both Walk/Run modes pay out $0.25 a mile per charity.  Outdoor Bike tracks by GPS, but pays $0.10 per mile.  The app is free to use (though it does ask for a lot of permissions, more then I'm typically comfortable giving), and the money is paid through corporate sponsors.

Below is a list of all the charities you can walk for in the charity miles app.

First listed is the charity itself, followed by the amount of money the charity has raised this term from the app.  A term lasts June through May, and this term ends May 31st.  Ever since the big blow up with Wounded Warrior Project, I've been looking into charity accountability sites, watchdog groups, rating how the donations and funds are being used by the charity.  When I donate I want my money, and miles, to go to the actual cause I'm supporting.  So for each charity I used BBB Give.org, Charity Navigation, and Charity Watch to find the ratings.  When I write "can't find" it means the charity hasn't been evaluated by the site, or it could be under another name and I just couldn't find it.

Stand Up To Cancer: $53,466.  BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 91.93/100. Charity Watch: A-

American Diabetes Association: $2,343.  BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 80.29/100 Charity Watch: No information

ASPCA: $33,977. BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 82.99/100 Charity Watch: No Information.

Habitat For Humanity: $10,496.  BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 74.36/100 Charity Watch: B+

Operation Smile: $13,034.  BBB Give.org: Standards Not Met.  Charity Navigator: Can't Find. Charity Watch: No information.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society: $19,104.  BBB Give.org: Couldn't find. Charity Navigator: 84.09/100. Charity Watch: Can't find.

Girl Up:  $5,902.  BBB Give.org: Can't find. Charity Navigator: Can't find. Charity Watch: Can't find.

Alzheimer's Association: $34,786.  BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 90.60/100. Charity Watch: No information.

Save the Children: $12,307.  BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 90.29/100. Charity Watch: A

Feeding America: $18,728.  BBB Give.org:  Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: Can't find. Charity Watch: No information.

World Wildlife Fund: $15,157.  BBB Give.org: Accredited Charity, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 89.43/100. Charity Watch: no information.

Shot@Life: $3,129.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

charity: water: $15,624.  BBB Give.org: Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 96.98/100.  Charity Watch: A

The Michael J. Fox Foundation: $15,956.  BBB Give.org:  Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 97.47/100. Charity Watch: A

(RED): $2,713.  BBB Give.org: Can't find. Charity Navigator: Can't find. Charity Watch: Can't find.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: $26,810.  BBB Give.org: Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 88.61/100 Charity Watch: No information.

Autism Speaks: $14,692.  BBB Give.org:  Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 74.38/100. Charity Watch: no information.

Team Red, White & Blue: $35,101. BBB Give.org: Did not disclose. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Every Mother Counts: $6,475. BBB Give.org: Can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Girls On The Run: $12,564. BBB Give.org: Accredited. Charity Navigator: 84.50/100. Charity Watch: Can't find.

DoSomething.Org: $1,250. BBB Give.org: Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 97.09/100. Charity Watch: Can't find.

Wounded Warrior Project: $47,452.  BBB Give.org: Review In Progress. Charity Navigator: 84.52/100. Charity Watch: C

The Nature Conservancy: $6,592.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: 80.46/100. Charity Watch: can't find.

The World Food Programme: $5,297.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Pencils of Promise: $3,977.  BBB Give.org: Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Special Olympics: $5,752. BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: 86.57/100. Charity Watch: no information.

National Park Foundation: $5,609.  BBB Give.org: Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: Can't Find. Charity Watch: No information.

Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America: $6,732.  BBB Give.org: Accredited, meets standards. Charity Navigator: 91.63/100. Charity Watch: A-

Team for Kids: $1,072.  BBB Give.org: Can't find. Charity Navigator: Can't find. Charity Watch: Can't find.

She's The First: $4,125.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Soles4Souls: $1,743.  BBB Give.org: Unable to Verify. Charity Navigator: 85.60/100. Charity Watch: can't find.

Nothing But Nets: $1,464.  BBB Give.org: Can't find. Charity Navigator: Can't find. Charity Watch: Can't find.

Back On My Feet: $4,357.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

The Partnership For A Healthier America: $1,406.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Achilles International: $1,519.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: 83.04/100. Charity Watch: can't find.

The Ironman Foundation: $1,405.  BBB Give.org: can't find. Charity Navigator: can't find. Charity Watch: can't find.

Vision Spring: $1,392.  BBB Give.org: Can't find. Charity Navigator: 96.40/100. Charity Watch: can't find.

There's 37 total charities on the charity miles app.

(celebrate life virtual race and Watson Clinic Digital Dash 2016)

Oh course, virtual races need to be transparent as well.

Hogwarts Running Club gives $21 per medal towards the charity, which is a great percentage.

Races for Awareness states on their page that: "We strive to give the most to charities and try to keep the cost of the race fee low at the same time. Currently 80-100% of net proceeds goes directly to the charity. At the very least $8.00 is donated. Most of our races donate $10 per race fee. It’s dependent on the cost of the medal. Some of our virtual races 100% of net proceeds are donated. Please check the individual race page for details."  And they take screen shots of every payment towards charity they make and post the images online.

Make Yes! Happen isn't transparent.  Most of their races don't support charities and are there for the sport of virtual races.  Some of the medals are pretty cool.  Those that are for charity are individual groups that host races on the site.

Virtual Strides is another virtual race site that supports charities.  I haven't done one of their races yet, but they're very transparent.  Under their answer page: "Great question. Unfortunately, there are plenty of unethical individuals in this world who say they are raising funds for charity but never actually make the promised donation. We are not like those individuals. We believe in complete transparency in this regard and post receipts from all of our donations and scans of any acknowledgement letters we receive on our Charities page."

There's many other sites, but these are the ones I'm doing for now.

Also, when a race has an option for how many miles you can walk/run for each race, I'm choosing the highest amount of miles.  For the Paris medal on the left there were options for a 5k, 10k, half marathon and full marathon.  I choose the full marathon spread out over several days, of course.

So if you like running or walking virtual races could be a fun way to spice up your workouts.  And if you don't want to pay for a medal, but still want to help charities, there's always the charity mile app which is free.

The Blessing I Found While Listening To LDS General Conference in Japan

LDS General Conference weekend, a meeting that takes place twice a year, every October and April, in which 100,000 attend in person, and millions watch all over the World, has now come and gone.  We Mormons always get so excited.  Two days, 5 sessions, each a couple hours, and if you watch on BYUtv or KSL there's inspirational programs to watch in between sessions.

It's strange to think that I was in Japan last October conference, my first time visiting this country.  I was so excited to be there, but leading up to the trip and actually arriving I found myself nervous and overwhelmed.  Scared even.  And it didn't help that I was literally sick right before leaving, fighting a fever and finding difficulty in eating.  Finally I was going to Japan!!  And I was sick.

At the airport I tried so desperately to eat food.  Salt Lake City airport has a Cafe Rio, and I got my favorite taco meal with yummy shredded beef.  What usually takes me 10-20 minutes to eat took longer.  It felt like I was eating in slow motion, and my blood sugars were going crazy.  After an overnight layover at LAX, staying at the Holiday Inn Express, the food on the airline didn't go down any easier.

Maybe I was still stressed.  Maybe it was nerves.  And suddenly when my brother, sister-in-law, and I made it to the apartment after spending hours on a bus and 30+ minutes thoroughly confused at a train station, we got situated for the night.

I got the living room/kitchen where the couch rolled out into a bed on the floor.  And suddenly I found myself hungry with no way to get food, my blood levels dropping so that I felt "sugar sick."  Suddenly I was homesick.  And I found myself unhappy in a place I dreamed of visiting for years.  And this all made me ashamed. 

At around 1:00 am in the morning I realized general conference was starting back home.  The apartment came with an internet wifi device, and I connected my phone, went to www.lds.org and streamed it live.  And somewhere in all that my sister-in-law Krista came into my room and joined me, probably before I started streaming.  We were both overwhelmed.  Me feeling shame.  She feeling homesick at being away from her kids for a week.  We both lay there and cried.

But when conference started the most wonderful feeling of peace came over me.  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was speaking.  His words brought comfort, but it was really the spirit that helped me feel calm.  Krista and I listened as we shared the almonds I thankfully bought at LAX.

I'm so thankful for that experience.  So thankful for the gospel.  So thankful for technology that allowed me, on the other side of the World, to listen to our prophet and apostles live.  So thankful for the gift of the spirit.  Again, so thankful for the gospel.

And now, six months later, conference filled this last weekend, and my Facebook was filled with inspirational quotes quickly created after each talk, my friends sharing and discussing them.

Yesterday, as the Sunday afternoon conference came to the end, Jeffrey R. Holland gave this beautiful message:

"Tomorrow, you and I will return to our regular responsibilities, as I said in general conference. Nobody wants the fears and concerns of tomorrow to destroy the peace and joy we felt yesterday and today as we listened to the inspiring counsel of our leaders. As good as our intentions may be, we may slip into old habits. We will make mistakes.

"But don’t give up! The great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed. With the gift of the Atonement and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve.

"So keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven will be cheering you on today, tomorrow, forever. I will be cheering for you too."

Already all the talks are available on www.lds.org, ready for a second helping of this spiritual feast.  And within a week these talks will be available on the gospel library app for download, ready for six months of review until we get to listen to more talks this coming of October. :0) 

Utah Odyssey of the Mind 2016 Pins, Shirt, and Crazy Hats

 A week and a half ago was the Utah Odyssey of the Mind competition, and as tradition we got a whole new set of pins and shirts for our theme, keeping with the blue monsters and going western.  Every year each participating State and Country create new pins and shirts to trade.  Trading at the World's competition is a huge deal, and after closing ceremonies is when the shirt trading starts.  I've gotten some cool shirts these last two years.

 I love Western Omer!

 Creativity Outlaws: Our theme.  BTW, Idaho was on all our pins, but an Idaho team didn't end up competing at our competition (they wouldn't compete against Utah teams, only against other Idaho teams) .  There isn't an OotM program in Idaho, so we let them come to our competition.  There were originally three ID teams, but they all dropped out, but by the time the last team dropped out our pins had all ready been ordered.

 The three blue monsters showing all 5 problems: 

Problem 1, Vehicle: No-Cycle Recycle

Problem 2, technical: Something Fishy

Problem 3, classics: Aesop Gone Viral

Problem 4, structure: Stack Attack!

Problem 5, performance: Furs, Fins, Feathers & Friends

 An Omer pin that's sold on the main website, not tied to a State.

 This years bobble pin.

 The Utah shirt.  Purple is for Officials.  The judges shirt was brown.  The participants/spectactors shirt was like a black, dark navy blue.  The officials/judges shirts were SO much better this year!!  Last year our shirt was based on the box problem set pin.  I really like this years shirt.

 My crazy hat!  So I didn't make one this year.  I wore my Steampunk western style Minnie Mouse ears that I got at Disneyland two years ago. I love this hat!  And it fits both our State theme and Problem 5 theme, which I'm problem captain over.

 My Dad was my announcer/timekeeper this year, and he had a lot of fun creating this Olaf crazy hat.  All the kids loved it.  And my Dad had a lot of fun.  He said he would help again; I'm totally holding him to it!!!  We were super short on volunteers.  I was P.5 problem captain/head judge, P.3 long-term judge, and was supposed to also be the P.5 timekeeper/announcer, but there was no way I could get scores out and later meet with couches with their scores, at the same time keeping our problem site on schedule, if I was timekeeper/announcer, so my Dad stepped in last minute to help me out.  Which was a huge, huge help.

My brother is Problem 2 problem captain, and he created a Raspberry Pi (mini computer), which he uploaded Super Mario Brothers, completely playable, and attached it to his hat.  It was really cool.

So there you have it!  Another year down.

I'm not going to Worlds this year, due to going to France and finances, so I'm sad about that.  I even had a dream about pin trading, and woke up realizing I don't get to pin trade this year!!  Kinda silly.  I hope everyone has fun at Worlds :0)

In Which I Stay The Night In A Hotel Room With No Electricity

It was Sunday night, March 6, 2016.  My family, namely my Mom, Grandmother, and Grandfather, had just pulled into Mesquite Nevada to meet up with my Uncle and Aunt who came up from Riverside CA.

We had already had a rather exciting drive down, exciting if you love driving through snow, ice, rain and sleet.  The weather around Parowan can be treacherous, and just as we left that city one of those road condition light up boards flashed, "standing water, next 30 miles."  Sure enough, 15 miles in, cars were slipping off the road, and as we came up to one such stranded vehicle a mini SUV whipped around us, swerved vertically right in front of us (in which it came within a foot of the stranded vehicle and was within perfect head-on-collision with us), then miraculously strengthened ahead again, swerving to the other side of the road, and back and forth five times to make an elegant wavy line in the slushy standing water.  So many things could have gone wrong.  It was a terrifying event to behold.  It's amazing how everything slows down in times of panic. 

So by the time we drove into Mesquite, by nightfall, we were all still talking about it.  And then we noticed cops at the main intersections, all street lights black.  Lights at the two casino's, McDonald's, and Chevron out as well.  Everywhere was dark.

Then I noticed my phone wasn't connecting to anything.  When we go through Virgin River Gorge service is never available, but now in Mesquite my cell wasn't connecting to the internet.  The 4G lines completely gone.

We were soon informed that all electricity was out throughout the city.  And that electricity was out all the way down to Laughlin Nevada, including Las Vegas.  One person said electricity was completely out in Las Vegas, whereas another person said only parts of Las Vegas was out.  It was a strange hearing different reports and rumors, and not being able to access information on my phone to confirm anything.  And the radio stations we could get in the car weren't talking about the situation.

Apparently a storm came through and blew a transformer.  According to another person a transformer exploded and caught fire.

(I just found an article on Las Vegas Review Journal with some basic information. 2,800 homes out of power in Clark County by 5pm.  Overton, Moapa and Mesquite power grids completely down. "Outages in Las Vegas began clearing up after 5 p.m., and as of 7 p.m. NV Energy’s website reported that fewer than 300 homes were still without power."  All thanks to "a power pole at a substation [catching] fire.")

All the gas stations were down with no ability to pump gas.  All the restaurants shut down.  And the pass going through the canyon backed up and clogged for miles.

Add to all this, a NASCAR race just finished in LV, and the Virgin River hotel was booked to capacity.  A bunch of people stranded.

People were hanging out in the open air, hotel doors and windows open to let as much light in as possible.  Thankfully the key cards were working.  We got my Grandpa settled in his pet friendly room with his dog Ginger, while we were scrambling through the van for flashlights.  Thankfully my Grandpa had a couple LED flashlights.  And my Mom found another in the 72 hour pack along with a tube of glow sticks.

It's funny, I think the glow sticks turned out to be the most useful items in the pack, along with the flashlight, because we set them up around the hotel room.  Around my Grandpa's room, creating bracelets to place on door handles and next to the sink, and then My Grandma, Mom, and I placed the glow sticks around our room.

Virgin River Hotel and Casino was running off generators, mainly keeping the gambling machines operating along with one restaurant serving sandwiches and salad.  The line for the restaurant took about 45 minutes, much quicker then thought, and I was relieved to have a turkey sandwich.  It seemed they used prime rib for the beef sandwich, because that's one of Virgin Rivers main deals, Prime Rib dinner for $6.99.  Since they couldn't serve the dinner and had all this prime rib cooking throughout the day, it seems it went into the sandwich.  Thankfully my Mom let me have a couple pieces.

The generators also lit up the parking lot lights, and thankfully our room was next to the parking lot.  My Aunt and Uncle were not as fortunate as their room was in one of the back buildings on a third floor, and since my aunt has disabilities and the elevators weren't working, she didn't join us for dinner, so my Uncle brought her a sandwich.

It was all an eerie situation.  I've been in power outage situations before, but always at home or close to home, never in a traveling situation, especially one so wide spread.

It was interesting not having gas stations open, restaurants closed, and so forth, all over.  Thankfully we stayed in a place with a generator and a running make-shift restaurant.  And thankfully we had plumbing working and running water.

We were told electricity would come on around midnight, and around 11:30 P.M. the fire alarm went off.  The most piercing, terrible sound, everyone running out of their hotel rooms to save their ears.  I'm glad I travel with ear plugs.

The electricity didn't come on until around 8 a.m. the next morning.

It was an eye opening situation.  I'm now going to go through my car and closet 72 hour packs and update them.  Make sure everything is still good, add glow sticks, and some nuts, beef jerky, and protein bars.  Those high in carbs/sugar emergency bars that typically come in 72 hour packs are not enough.

It's always good to be prepared.

Zootopia mini movie review

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

First of all, before I get into this review, I just took a look over at Rotten Tomatoes and saw that Zootopia, the latest animated offering from Disney Animation, is at a 99% fresh tomato rating.  99%!!!!!!  I don't even know if I've ever seen a fresh rating that high.  It's so high that these fresh tomatoes are still green!  And now I want fried green tomatoes, dang it.

Ever since Judy Hopps, played by Ginnifer Goodwin, was a little bunny she dreamed of becoming a police officer.  But in her family and community nobody has never left, always giving up dreams to grow carrots.  It's expected.  In fact, no bunny, female or male, has ever become a police officer, as that job has always been performed by larger animals: polar bears, bison, elephants, etc.  Intimidating creatures.  Judy Hopps is an optimistic little animal with a big dream, proving along each step that nothing is impossible.  All dreams are possible.

Along her journey of acceptance she stumbles upon Nick Wilde, a sly fox played by Jason Bateman, who oozes charm and sarcasm.  While she struggles with her acceptance of him, Judy always keeps fox spray strapped to her belt just in case, they find themselves spending a lot of time together.  Can two previous foes ever become friends? 

There is a huge social political underlying theme, which is why I believe the fresh tomato rating is so high.  Zootopia has it's own set of politics based on their unique culture of prey verses predator.  Although society has evolved to where they all live together, there's fear of a return to the primeval instinct.  Can foxes and bunny's ever get along?

In terms of some of the underlying messages that only adults will read into, I will not comment.  My mind did start spinning into possible implied implications and so forth, "what are they saying?" and so forth.  In this day and age, with so many opinions, current racial climate, and Disney's liberal slant, it's hard to say, so I'm not going there.  Read into it as much or as little as you wish.  The social-political climate works within Zootopia.

With what is happening currently in American world events, the degrading and attacks on police officers, I appreciate the positive image created in Zootopia in regards to cops.  It's nice seeing those who are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect our lives portrayed in a positive light.

Overall I love the positive message in the film, and I love Judy's incredible optimism and drive.  And I love Nick's one liners and attitude.  The chemistry these two characters have compliment Zootopia.

And, oh my goodness, the animation and world building in Zootopia!  One of the early shots when Judy rides a train is really breathtaking.  So much thought and brilliant artistry has been put into this movie.  And seeing how the different animals  live together is really fun.  The town of little rodents that we get to see later on is so cute!  Creatively Zootopia is a fun film.

And I love the music.  The soundtrack is rich.  And the theme song "Try Everything" by Shakira is catchy.

A good movie with an intriguing plot, vibrant world, and strong characters.

MPAA: Rated PG for some thematic elements, rude humor and action

Animal nudist colony. -_-;;  Definitely humor aimed at adults.

In Which I Finally Discover Pho and The Easter Bunny at the Mall

 I feel like a child wandering around life, only to learn at age 10 that Santa Clause isn't real.  (True story: I found out about Santa in the first grade.  My classmates spoiled it for me. -_-;;) 

I've heard about Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup, but never managed to give it a try.

Last November I took the plunge at the Fashion Place mall food court.

The booth is called Lua, next to Panda Express, and it's a small business, which is why I want to share this on my blog, in case any of my friends find themselves in Murray UT at the mall.  I love supporting small businesses.

Even though I've never tried any other Pho, so there isn't anything to base their soup on, it's still an incredible tasting soup.  The broth is so fragrant.  And I love the ability to add fresh mint and sprouts to the soup.  Mint smells so good.  But it's an aromatic experience.  I don't know what's all in the broth, but it awakens my soul every time I have some.  (And I know that sounds all corny poetic, but that's what it feels like.)

So if you ever find yourself at the Fashion Place mall, Lua's Pho is worth a try.

P.S. At the Fashion Place Mall you can get your photo taken with the Easter Bunny.

I'm losing faith in humanity.

P.P.S  I think the Easter Bunny is wearing a bath robe.  Or maybe that's a sleeping robe, but still, what message is this trying to send?

(In all honestly, I'm just amused by it.  The Easter Bunny.)

The 5th Wave, Mini Movie Review

Rating: 3.25 out 5 stars

The 5th Wave, directed by J Blakeson and based on the books by Rick Yancey, is an interesting movie.  Interesting enough that I didn't read spoilers for the next book on wikipedia, which I did for Maze Runner (I've lost all interest reading those Maze books).  But I've already purchased Book 1 and 2 (The Infinite Sea) in The 5th Wave series.  Target had them at a very good price.  I have zero discipline when it comes to books.  (Though I won't be reading them until the end of May, when the third book The Last Star is released, the final book in the trilogy.  It's nice reading a book series all the way through without brakes and no lingering thoughts.)

Back to the movie!

The movie means well, it really does, and I know this movie had the best of intentions, which is why I'll give it a pat on the back for effort.  But this alien invasion movie mixed with good ol' YA romance is a mess.  First of all, as intense as the opening scene is, I didn't like jumping immediately to the middle of the story to find us then suddenly at the beginning, explaining each of the first four waves of alien attack in vivid detail.  The first part of the movie feels like a giant flashback, which caused me to feel disconnected, slowing down and extending the story's exposition, instead of it all feeling fresh.

It's not until we get to the early stages of the 5th wave that the movie begins to pick up, well, pick up at the military base before slowing down during the interjected YA scenes featuring our main heroine, Chloë Grace Moretz.

The pace is all over the place.

The acting had moments of strength and weakness.

And yet I had moments where I felt my spine crawl, my breath being held, the pit in my stomach expanding as I realized what the 5th wave of alien invasion meant.  I figured it out really quick, but the figuring out actually added to the horror.

The 5th Wave had so much potential.  The plot actually seems quite intriguing, despite the recycled alien/dystopian theme.  Intriguing enough that I must find out what happens.

Thanks to this movie being based on the first book in a trilogy, the movie ends on a cliff hanger with unresolved conflict.  There's an ending of sorts, but not enough to satisfy, and unfortunately it's at the end of the movie when the plot and action gets really interesting.  It's the second movie I want to see, not the first, but since the movie grossed unto 100 million I'd be surprised if there was a sequel.

Thankfully I can read how it all ends.

Rated PG-13 for violence and destruction, some sci-fi thematic elements, language and brief teen partying.

Why I Choose To Be Obedient To God

"Obedience to God can be the highest expression of independence.  Just think of giving to him the one thing, the one gift, that he would never take.  Think of giving him that one thing that he would never wrest from you . . . obedience - that which God will never take by force - he will accept when freely given.  And he will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of - the freedom to feel and to know.  The freedom to do, and the freedom to be, at least a thousandfold more than we offer him.  Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience."  ~ Boyd K. Packer

I glued this quote into my scriptures many, many years ago, and I reflect on it often.

All of our material wealth, our health, our talents, our life positions, etc, God owns.  At any moment any of these things can be taken away from us.  But our agency is the one thing, the only thing, we own.

It's the one main thing Men will try to take from us, our right to agency, to force obedience, but it is the one thing God will never take from us.  He holds agency in such a high regard.  And God's regard for agency explains so much.  Even the most obedient suffer at the agency and choices of others, and yet agency is still protected.  The righteous suffer at the hands of evil men, and though evil may seem to claim victory, we are protected eternally.

But because I know this great gift of agency is the only thing I own, it's the only gift I can offer God: using my agency to obey God's commandments.

I'm constantly messing up, and yet God loves me despite my imperfections.

And so I will always strive to be obedient to God.