JG on KBEE

Okay, so I was on FOJG and someone posted about a contest that was happening in Salt Lake (and apparently it is going on in other states too). Josh Groban is going to be in New York City doing an invite-only concert. The FOJG people got some tickets as well. I entered the radio contest and I am now listening to KBEE 98.7 waiting for them to call a name. I want it to be me but I never win so I'm not holding my breath. lol. I did put thier number in my cell phone and on speed dial just in case.

Awake at Sundance 2008

I saw this video and about cried. I love Awake and this made me remember the concert I went to in Salt Lake. I cried during this song. Josh wrote this song for his family. They were there that night and knowing that made me emotional. Hearing it in an acoustic version made my skin crawl. I love it! Josh always does an amazing job at his concerts, big or small.

If you would like to listen to the Awake album go here.

Elation and Spurts

We are going on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera in May. We all have passports now and Mom and Dad are in the process of getting everyone registered with the cruise line. We are flying to Los Angeles. That will be fun. I have never been on a plane. Brian and I are the only ones in the family who have not been on a plane. Eric did when he went to Italy. Chad and Steven both did when they went on their missions. For the cruise we are stopping in San Diego, Catalina Island, and then back to LA. I feel like there was another stop but I can't seem to think of it. Let's see we were going to go see a navy boat (or go to the zoo) in San Diego, go snorkeling at Catalina Island, and go see the blowholes...in...Ensenada. We just talked about it on Sunday. You'd think I would remember better! lol. I am excited! I have never been on a cruise. I have always wanted to. This should be fun. I plan on taking a lot of pictures. lol.

Dancing with the Stars started Monday. I think this season will be interesting because they a very good variety of celebrities. I am glad that Tony Dovolani is there again this season. I always vote for him. I know ... I should vote for the celebrities not the professional dancers. lol. But I like Tony so he always gets my vote. Besides he never makes it to the end. I try to keep him as long as I can. I like the way he dances. He is very fluid with his movements.

School ends in a few weeks. My last day of class is April 7. I need to find work so that I can afford to do anything in the fall. Maybe I'll just work in the fall too and start back up in the springtime. What I really need right now is a change of scenery. I need to get out of my parent's house...actually I need to get out of Utah. But I have no money so I'm trapped here. I am drowning in love and doubt here. I guess my only option is get a job and work like crazy and save all of it so that I can do something that will help my state of mind in the future. I don't know where I am going to work. I got offered a job last week but it didn't feel right so I declined the position. Dad was disappointed about that. I hate the short spurts of depression that I get. They make me feel so low.

SAdness

Josh Groban was going to go to South Africa and do a tour later this month but due to some problems it has been postponed. And Josh was kind enough to post on FOJG.

Here is the press release:

JOSH GROBAN POSTPONES HIS SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR

LOS ANGELES, CA. March 10, 2008. It is with great regret that Josh Groban announces that dates for his upcoming South African tour have been postponed. The new concert dates will be rescheduled and announced as soon as possible.

Groban was due to perform a series of concerts commencing in Durban on March 16th. Groban's management has been trying to coordinate the tour for weeks, but due to the failure of the tour promoter, Duncan Heafield of Kusasa (PTY) LTD, to perform his obligations with regard to the tour, the tour dates have to be pushed back.

Says Brian Avnet, Groban's manager, "We made the decision to reschedule the dates to ensure Josh's fans have the best possible live experience. To continue with the tour in March would just not be in the best interests of Josh's many fans in South Africa and we do not want to disappoint them."

Says Josh Groban, "South Africa is very dear to me and I have never forgotten the spirit and passion shown to me on my last visit. It saddens me that due to circumstances beyond my control these shows must be postponed. But I am looking forward to returning very soon and giving my fans the experience they deserve."

We have been advised by Ticketconnection that refunds for the shows they are involved with will be available at point of purchase (online at: www.ticketconnection.co.za or call: 0861 121 333 or at Mr. Price Everyday, Home and Sport outlets). Sun City refunds are available through Computicket (www.computicket.co.za).

Josh Groban's South African tour dates were as follows:

March 16 - Greyville Race Course, Durban Kwa-Zulu Natal
March 18 - Bloemfontein’s Oliwenhuis Homestead & Estate
March 20 & 21 - Vergelegen Wine Estate, Cape Town
March 25, 26 & 27 - Coca-Cola Dome, Johannesburg
March 29 - Sun City

Issued on behalf of Josh Groban and Brian Avnet. For further questions regarding the postponed South Africa concerts, please contactPenny Stein Promotions (011) 884 1613 or e-mail pro-file@yebo.co.za

For media inquiries related to Josh Groban, please contact Allison Elbl at ID Public Relations at (323) 822 4851 or e-mail: aelbl@id-pr.com.

TTT concert

The Ten Tenors concert was so much fun! They sang "Here’s to the Heroes", "You Only Live Twice", "Il Gladiatore / Now We Are Free", "Just to see each other Again", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Nessun Dorma", "The Boxer", "Australian Folk Song Medley", "BeeGees Medley", "Por una Cabeza", "Opera Without the Boring Bits", "Italian Medley", and "Granada". I am sure I'm missing some songs but I can't think of them.

Afterward, they came out to the lobby and took pictures and signed stuff. I only got to eight signatures and five pictures. (My camera battery died on me.) I missed seeing Shannon by a few minutes. But I was told that he ducks out pretty quickly.

I did get to meet Liam...

Dom...


Steven (he is a new guy)...


"Chendry"...


...and Tod.


Tod is so cute! Mom liked his haircut so she took a picture of the back of his head. lol. I have seen better shots. Oh well, I thought it was funny.


When I met him I asked him if I could get a picture and he said sure. He put his arm around me and I put my arm around him ... and then someone asked for his signature. I didn't mind one bit! We just stood there for a few seconds. I tired not to blush too much. lol. Tod smelled really good!


Then Mom took the picture and went to the next cute guy. lol. It was such a fun night. My cousin and his wife were there. They sat to the right of us. It was funny to see them there. And on our left was someone famous! Mitt Romney was there with his wife. That was kind of weird. Everyone came up to him before the show and during the intermission. They left right before the second half of the concert.

Now I have been to two TTT concerts. I saw them for the first time in Fort Collins, CO on November 11, 2004.

Antsy Me

I got an email telling me that two of the books I ordered are in the store. I don't want to go get them until all three books are there. I needed something to read because I was getting antsy. So I started to read the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. I have finished the first two. I have to go to the library and get the other five. We only own The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. They are such an easy read that I can read them really fast. I read all of Prince Caspian last night.

Tomorrow is going to be so much fun. I am going to a Ten Tenors concert! They are so awesome. I saw them when they came to Colorado a few years ago. This time Mom and Dad can go and see why I like them so much. Well, they might not understand that I think ten guys who sing and have gorgeous Australian accents are worth listening to. But hey. They are worth seeing live once...or twice. I wonder if I can bring my camera? Hmm, we'll try and hopefully they don't take it away.

I know at Josh Groban's concert he doesn't mind cameras and lets people take pictures as long as you don't use the flash. He says he gets headaches from the flashes. Most of the time the Grobanites are very courteous and obey the rules. Sometimes the venues don't allow cameras and then the fans get in an uproar until Darren, Josh's security guard, comes out and tells them it is okay. Thankfully, at the Salt Lake concert we had no problems. They didn't even check bags. Which I thought they were going to do. They just scanned our tickets and told us to have a fun time. The bad thing about reminiscing about the concert is I now have PCD (Post Concert Depression) and I really want to go and see Josh again. I can't wait until the concert DVD comes out in April. It was recorded at the Salt Lake concert! I was there! My first Josh Groban concert and I can watch it over and over again.

Leap...

Happy Leap Year/Day! Happy birthday to my Grandma. I think she is twenty today. lol. I wonder when she celebrates her birthday normally? February or March?

On the "Book I am Reading Now" it says that I am reading Harry Potter but I got an email today from Maria V. Snyder saying that her book, Fire Study, is out now. So I am going to go and see if I can find that trilogy and read those instead. I am only two chapters into Harry Potter and would be more than willing to stop and read about assassins and poison than wizards. lol.

The Music of Silence

I have always been interested in artists' rise to fame and a blind opera singer was more intriguing than the rest. Andrea Bocelli voice is mesmerizing to me. I love the fact that he had a dream and never gave up on it even if at times he felt like there was no way that they would ever take flight.

In the foreword of his autobiography, Andrea Bocelli states the reason that he wanted to note his life. It reads as the following:

I feel slightly embarrassed by the idea of attempting an autobiography at this point in my life, although I spent many pleasurable hours writing in my youth. Then, my writing was almost always confined to school assignments, but occasionally I sent letters to faraway friends, composed poems, or indulged in other similar adolescent endeavors. My intention now, if this can be a sufficient justification for a man of my age who suddenly decides to become a writer, is only that of passing some of my free time recounting the story of a very simple life.

My main worry is not that the reader might yawn over these poor scribbled pages or put the book down and go to sleep. Instead, it is that I seem to be observed by two eyes that read my thought while I write. They are the eyes of an old man with a kind face, a watchful expression, and the barely perceptible smile of one who knows the comedy of life so well that he now feels a sense of boredom and detachment. One cannot read the face of such an old man, whose passions are cancelled forever by the inexorable forces of time, and the tenacious work of thought. And yet that serene face, illuminated still, perhaps, by the fire of ideas, seems to judge me severely. Beneath that gaze, I feel ridiculous, intimidated, incapable of anything, while a moment ago I was presumptuous and deluded, like students who believe themselves to be custodians of absolute truths because of a few philosophical notions they have picked up in lectures. With the passing of time, I seem even to see a sense of irony emerging on the face of the old man. I ask myself then, why is he not indulgent with me, as he seems to be with everyone else? Why does he have to take me so seriously?

The reader, who perhaps has by now identified the inquisitor as myself as an old man, knows that his implacable gaze is always fixed upon me, at every moment of the day, and is at the root of my every act, my every decision.

(Foreword, pages v – vi)

He goes on in the introduction and says:

I am in one of my many cells: three yards square, two small couches, a sink, a small table, a closet against the wall. The small room is illuminated by a window that looks out onto the road. It is two in the afternoon and I have to stay here until the show begins. Soon they will call me for a rehearsal; later, for makeup; in the meantime someone will have brought me a cup of coffee. But for the moment I don’t have anything to do.

I forgot: in the small room there is a computer. I think about how it might be able to help me pass the time. I could write, maybe tell a story: my life, for example. But as soon as it forms, this thought fills me with embarrassment. I haven’t written since I was a boy. Writing seemed a pleasant pastime to me then. Who knows what effect it would have on me today? I warn myself about being distracted from the performance I must give in a few hours. It’s not easy, but one cannot live waiting to walk onstage. I get up and pace up and down the small room, in search of memories, nostalgia, people distant images…

And unexpectedly a young boy in shorts comes to mind with nervous legs, a bit twisted, always covered in bruises and scabs, pitch-black hair, a face with regular features, and a knowing expression, unpleasant according to one’s point of view. I believe I can describe him as a normal young boy, or rather one with a common enough mixture of virtues and defects.

Normal in spite of a physical impairment, on which I must necessarily linger for a moment, if I want to speak of him.

Am I that young boy?

In some ways yes, but in others no, considering that I have changed so much since then. To speak of him as “me” somehow feels false, something I’d be embarrassed to do. I will pretend, therefore, that this book deals with someone else.

I speak as though I am speaking of Amos. Amos is the name I have given him. I have also given him a family name: Bardi.

(Introduction, pages vii – viii)

Those thoughts alone were sufficient enough to capture my attention. But as I went on and read about his extraordinary childhood and rise to stardom I gained a deep respect for Andrea Bocelli and what he had to go through in order to obtain his dreams. While submerging myself into the Tuscany sun that I imagined while reading I felt a calm and peace that I have not felt in a very long time. My dreams are on hold and struggling to be set free and I realized that no matter what I think about myself or what others think about my ideas they deserve to be tested and tried. My self-happiness would be greater, I believe, if I just let myself go.

I really enjoyed this book and am very glad that I own a copy of it. You should read it. If not to learn more about Andrea Bocelli's life, but to "pass the time" as he says.

Tony Dancing Randomness

Ditron ‘Tony’ Dovoloni is the coolest dancer that I’ve ever seen. He has been on Dancing with the Stars for five seasons, so far, and he recently retired from professional competitions. His dance partner, Elena Grinenko, retired with him as well. They still dance together.

Here are some insightful interviews…

video 1

video 2

video 3

And here are some fun videos that I found one day when I was bored and watching YouTube.

Tony Dovolani and Jullianne Hough dancing to Josh Groban singing So She Dances


Ballroom Blitz


Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko -- their last dance on America's Ballroom Challenge


Tony Dovolani and Elena Grinenko dancing a mambo


Pro dancers dancing an awesome Paso Doble -- Vrotio is singing


Pro dancer dancing the Jive

And don’t forget to watch Dancing with the Stars beginning March 17th. Tony will be dancing with Marissa Jaret Winokur, a Tony Award winning Broadway star. And vote for Tony!

Italia

Italia by Chris Botti and Andrea Bocelli. I love this song. The whole CD is great. This song was written by Chris Botti and David Foster. Chris says that the whole CD evolved around this song. If you ever get a chance to listen to the CD of the same name you should.