AFFINITY @ el Pedregal

Spent another Carefree Sunday at the el Pedregal listening to one of my favorite bands, AFFINITY.  Good choice hubby!  My hubby had nothing to do today since 1) he didn't have a realtor open house he was working, and 2) no sports for him to watch.  His Chicago Blackhawks are out of the playoffs, (thanks to the Phoenix Coyotes), and his Chicago Bulls played on Saturday.  So hubby asked me what my plans were for Sunday.  He knows I go somewhere every Sunday...either to a play, concert or whatever is in town to do or see.  I told him there were actually five things on my list for Sunday, but as of Friday I still was not sure what I was planning on doing on Sunday.  He heard my five choices of things to do and said he would love to go hear AFFINITY at the el Pedgral.  So we went up there and had a nice lunch and heard another amazing performance by AFFINITY.  Hubby and I think this group gets better every time we hear them.

So another enjoyable Carefree Sunday for us to enjoy.   Hubby needed this...he is still upset about his Chicago Blackhawks losing, and about Derrick Rose's season ending injury.  Poor hubby...life is tough when you are a sports junkie.

Music on the Promenade with Khani Cole

Friday evening hubby and I went to the first concert of the season at the Promenade.  We heard Khani Cole sing for the very first time.  She sings around the Valley a lot, but this was the first time we ever heard her in a concert.  The evening was lovely...perfect temperature, and an amazing performance.  The place was packed, and everyone was having a great time.  I look forward to more Friday evenings listening to music at the Promenade.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying @ Desert Stages Theatre

I went to see the latest production at Desert Stages Theater, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.  This musical opened on Broaday in 1961, and won 7 Tony Awards.  There was a 1995 revival with Mathew Broderick and Megan Mullally.  Then in 2011 a 50th Anniversary Broadway revival starred Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette.  Now the Broadway productions stars Nick Jonas and Beau Bridges.  I'm sure all these Broadway productions were wonderful to see, but if you can't make it to New York to see this current Broadway hit, you will be ever so pleased and delighted with Desert Stages production.  This cast was PERFECT!  Very entertaining.

 I write this blog solely for me, and me alone.  Blogging to me is no different than writing in a diary or a journal. But it's easier to add pictures to a blog.  I like being able to go back and reread what I saw or did...honestly because I usually don't remember what I did just last year.  I only wish I had kept a journal or diary my whole life.  I have had a great life with some wonderful experiences, I just don't always remember them.  Case in point:  I told my husband that my weekend adventure was going to see How to Succeed in Business.  I said I can't wait to see this Broadway hit. He replied, "You already saw this musical with Donald O'Connor when we lived in Chicago."  NO WAY!  I saw this musical before.  WOW, and I don't remember ever seeing it.

Well I just had to pull out my big box of all the Stagebills and Playbills I have from everything I have ever seen, and sure enough there it was...a Stagebill from the Dury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, IL.  We saw this musical in the Fall of 1985 when I was 23 years old and we were married only a few months.  How is it that I completely forget about seeing this musical with Donald O'Connor?  Anyway, this is why I love blogging, so I can go back and read about my life.  I have a good life, I just need to remember it. lol :-)

ASU String Ensemble and Rock Art

I headed over to Mayo Hospital today for a special concert featuring ASU String Ensemble.  People could not just walk by without stopping and listening to them play for awhile.  Their beautiful music filled the atrium with such sweet sounds.

After the concert I headed a little further West on the 101 to the Deer Valley Rock Center, which is a museum, nature preserve and archaeological site with the largest concentration of Native American rock art in the Phoenix Valley. The center showcases more than 1,500 petroglyphs made between 500 and 7,000 years ago by allowing public access to the the Hedgpeth Hills petroglyph site.

The Center is managed by one of the top archaeology programs in the country - the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, an academic unit of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at Arizona State University.

Thanks ASU...because of you, I had a real Rock and Roll day.

Another great day of music and art...rock art!

Altar Boyz @ Desert Stages Theater

From left to right:

Mark — A sensitive young man who loves Cher
Abraham — The nice Jewish boy who loves hip-hop
Matthew — The super handsome leader of the group
Juan — The ‘Latin lover’ with a passion for beautiful women
Luke — The bad boy of the group

I had a very soul enriching day seeing the marvelous musical performance of the Altar Boyz at Desert Stages Theater.  How is it that these local community theaters can cast the absolutely 'perfect' actors and actresses in roles, but Hollywood always seemed to miscast actors for parts.

These five guys were absolutely PERFECT for each of the roles they played, and exceptionally good too.

Thanks Altar Boyz for saving my soul today.  Alleluia!!!

MARRUGEKU: BURU

Today I attended the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts...OrigiNation: a week-end long festival which celebrates native cultures of Arizona, Australia, and New Zealand through music, dance, and art.

The highlight of the day was seeing a performance by the very young dance group  MARRUGEKU performing their new work BURU.  Through hip-hop music and stilt dancing a story is told of the six Yawuru Seasons and the indigenous people of Western Australai.

Note to self:  Forget the old Buns of Steel workout video, take up stilt dancing for a very toned and firm butt. :-)



Scottsdale's 100+ Journals Project

Today I participated in Scottsdale's 100+ Journal Project. I saw the exhibition of journals at The Gallery @ The Library a few weeks ago, and spent some time there reading entries.

They turned the Gallery at the Civic Center Library into a creative work space.  They have areas where you can sit down and create an entry for one of the 100 journals.  They provide glue, glitter, paper, colored pencils plus a lot more for you to use to create something special in one of the journals.

They have stations there that give you an idea what to journal about in case you need a creative inspiration.

I came across the table that read, "If you could invent a new holiday what would it be...how would we celebrate?"  Okay, this was it!!!  This was what I wanted to journal about more than anything. 

The holiday which I wrote about in my opinion is something that will actually be a 'real' holiday someday, and we will all celebrate it with great appreciation because it will awaken us to who we really are.

Here is a clue to my new HOLIDAY.

Giraffes ~ Stingrays ~ Butterflies

I had the BEST time on Tuesday going to the Phoenix Zoo.  The last time I was there was in November of 2010 to see the Koalas.  This time I made sure to get in line for the 2:00 Giraffe Encounter where you get up close and personal and feed the giraffes.  There were five giraffes there all waiting to get some treats from me, but the animal handler chose which giraffe would get my treats, and all the other giraffes stood back and let the chosen giraffe receive the treats without any interference.  These four other giraffes displayed absolutely no jealousy, nor fear of scarcity.  WOW!  Now if humans can raise their consciousness to the level of these giraffes...then the world would be a better and more peaceful place. 

Next it was time to go to Stingray Bay and pet the gentle stingrays.  This exhibit was not yet open to the public the last time I was at the zoo.  They are just so gentle and some actually swim up against your hand so you can stroke there backs. 

After spending a few hours at the zoo headed over to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Spring Butterfly Exhibit.  The springtime butterflies have no problem landing on you...your head, nose, arm.  This time I didn't see any butterflies landing on anyone, even though they were flying around like crazy.  But just before I was going to leave the butterfly pavillion, a small orangy-red butterfly landed on my purse and stayed there for a little while.  Funny because for my art class today, I had already sketched out on a canvas and was ready to paint an orangy-red butterfly from a photo from the butterfly pavillion.  This little butterfly did give me some wonderful creative inspiration...and for that...I am grateful.

Lend Me A Tenor @ Fountain Hills Theater

On Sunday I went to see Lend Me A Tenor at Fountain Hills Theater.  It was a last minute decision to go on Sunday, but am I glad I did!!!   The show was extremely entertaining, and I laughed out loud with one of those great big belly laughs a few times.  One of my absolutely favorite shows at Fountain Hills Theater was The Producers which starred Scott Hyder and Michael Stewart in the lead roles.  So when I heard both of them would be back to star in Lend Me A Tenor... well it was not a matter of...if I was going...but which day.

GREAT SHOW AND OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCES

 

Titanic 3D: Rose's Journey to Her Creative Heart Center

I have seen the film Titanic in a movie theater more than any other film.  So it's no surprise to people who know me that I went to see Titanic 3D too.  I was a Leonardo DiCaprio fan way before Titanic came out...actually the movie that made me a fan of his was William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  The reason I love Titanic and saw it so many times had nothing to do with him or his performance in the film...sorry Leo :-(     I love this film so much and saw it so many times solely due to the character Rose, and her journey.  No matter where you are in your life...a good place, a hopelessly bad place, or just a short term ugly place...you need to get off the door and blow the whistle just like Rose.

Rose is laying on top a door floating in the middle of the freezing Atlantic Ocean, but instead of giving up and dying there, she awakens to realize that she and she alone is worth living for, and then she gets the inspirational idea to get off the door and swim over to the dead guy and blow his whistle in order to save herself.

Get off the door and blow the whistle.

Last month at our neighborhood Bunko get together, all of us who attended knew of someone who in just the past several months committed suicide.  My husband's former real estate broker/owner killed himself at 53.  My neighbor's gynecologist killed herself at 39, and everyone else there knew of someone who decided life is too hard and hopeless and killed themselves.  So my prayer, my wish for humanity is that no matter how hopeless things get, you awaken just like Rose.  You get to a place where you feel that you and you alone are worth living for, and you connect to your creative heart center to get inspirational guidance that helps you out of whatever predictament you are in. 

Since I first saw the film Titanic, I have been saying a very simple prayer every night for my fellow brothers and sisters of Earth..."Get off the door, and blow the whistle."

I always get teary eyed when Rose is blowing that whistle so determined to save herself.  The only other part of the movie that gets me choked up is when they are panning Rose's pictures at the end of the film.  When they come to the picture of her on the horse at the beach in front of Santa Monica Pier...I always start crying.  But I am crying because I am so happy for her, not sad. 

This is the face of someone who is happy to be alive...so you can only shed happy tears for her.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters,

compared to what lies within us.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Sunday A'Fair

Sonoran Jazz

Sugahbeat

I spent a glorious afternoon soaking up the sun and listening to Sonoran Jazz and Sugahbeat at Scottsdale's Sunday A'Fair.  It also turned out to be a great people, kid, dog and duck watching day as well.  During the first 1/2 hour when the crowds were smaller, three ducks were walking around through the crowds looking for people to feed them.  They were quite amusing to watch.  Then they made the mistake of waddling over towards the band, where the little kids who were there dancing their little hearts out...saw them...and starting chasing after them.  The ducks couldn't out run the little kids and then they all flew away. 

Painting Classes

I started this past week taking painting classes that last for the next several weeks.  The first class was a 3-hour lecture on how to make our paintings look better.  This week we get into actually painting from a photograph we are to bring in with us.  So far so good...can't wait for all the rest of my painting classes.