Date Number Two and Fireside Musical Numbers and Ironman

After some reflection, I decided to edit the first portion of this post...it sounded like the date really wasn't good. It actually was a good date overall...

I just discovered that I didn't actually say what I did on the second date, I only posted on his pros and cons. So, this is what happened on date number two:

He picked me up later than I thought he said he was picking me up, but I realized that he may have told me a later time, so I was probably mistaken about the time...

Drove me in his very nice, recently detailed Honda Accent (the REALLY nice one)...and had to ask me to grab his planner to get the flier for the stake guy ask girl activity which we were going to. I didn't really mind, he tried to grab it and the light turned green, so he asked if I wouldn't mind...

Parked in the Church parking lot right next to the stake presidents house and walked over (he conveniently parked on the complete opposite side of the parking lot so that it would be easier to get out...which ended up being useless because we left earlier than most of the crowd did anyways...oh well, good idea...) to the stake presidents house (more like a mansion with a backyard that I thought was a park originally). It was all outdoors. The guys had to pay $20 for the ticket (1 ticket per couple), it was catered by some really nice Mexican restaurant in Phoenix (I find it very hard to believe that I have never even heard of this place, let alone eaten there...I thought I had eaten at every worthwhile Mexican place here). The tortillas were 18 inches in diameter...he had to teach me how to make a burrito, which was fun. Yes, in all my Mexican food experience I have never actually made a burrito until that night. It's funny, cause since then I have made two more.

Anyways, we sat at a table with seating for eight of which none had been filled yet. We were about halfway through our meal when three couples from out ward filled up the other seats. Three of the guys, including my date, were the ward clerks...yes, we have three. Why, I don't know...(duh, after re-reading this, I realized one is the financial, one the membership and one overall, I knew that!)

They had two places where you could get your picture taken with your date...we got in the shorter-but-the-photographer-takes-forever-line...and were going to do a group picture, but ended up being a him-and-me picture by the time we got up there. The theme for this dinner/activity was Fiesta de T A U S (tempe arizona university stake), so they had all kinds of dress up stuff to wear for the picture.

Mariachi band came in for entertainment...that was cool until they decided to do Karaoke Mariachi style...trust me, it was painful. Hilarious only once. Painful the rest of the time (musician).

Then we left with a ton of people from my ward and headed to one of the Bishopric's house (we went into the backyard cause we have activities at his place quite often, I saw the Brother who is in the Bishopric in the living room, I sneaked up to the window and scared the pants off of him-not literally, figuratively-It was AWESOME!!!) to watch Nacho Libre (to keep up with the theme of the dinner of course). My date had never seen it, and he didn't like School of Rock, so...wasn't sure he was going to like this one. I have to admit, I don't care for some of the Jack Black movies I have seen, but I LOVE Nacho Libre. Anyways, the DVD was all screwed up, so most of us left and he took me home.

The end.

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WARNING: I am a professional musician, and as such, I have high standards for anything that involves music, so please understand that this is a vent.

I LOVE CES firesides. I do not LOVE the choirs that perform for them.

Perhaps I am a bad person for saying this, but being that they are held at the Marriott Center on BYU campus and they have a good music program there and there are lots of members of the Church who are fabulous musicians ...WHY CAN'T there be fabulous musical numbers for these firesides? I am sorry, but no matter how hard I try, I have a really tough time feeling the Spirit when the musical number is just plain horrible. I would rather listen to silence.

My argument is that something that is unorganized, unpracticed, etc. and does not sound beautiful is not inviting to the Spirit.

Most musical numbers I hear in Church are not perfect, but they are for the most part beautiful. A missed note hear and there won't throw me. It's when it's consistent. Like the Easter program in my family ward where the flautist (who was late!) was a semi-tone flat...excruciatingly painful. The choir was good though.

Be together, be in tune. That is all I want.

Children singing out of tune, well, they are children and they abound in inviting the Spirit a lot of the time. But even children can be taught to be together and be in tune, I learned that first hand in Tuscaloosa when I was the primary chorister.

Kicker: the fireside topic tonight was music. I kid you not. I know, CES fireside not on marriage, who would've thunk? Seriously, I don't remember the last fireside that didn't even mention marriage once (excepting of course the introduction of his wife).

The musical number with Elder Nelson's daughters and granddaughters in the middle of his talk was wonderful. I loved it. I loved the talk. Really fabulous points made in his talk, and I loved how he talked about the effects of long term exposure to loud music on the ear drums...don't you just love doctors?

And then the choir sang again. WHY!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!???!!?!?!?!!

This is what the real problem is: the songs they sang were difficult, unfamiliar songs. The institute choir that sang isn't a professional choir. It is a bunch of students getting together who love to sing, some with better voices than others, with a director who doesn't know how to direct most of the time.

Now, from what I was able to gather, Elder Nelson requested those songs. Point blank, if an apostle asks you to perform those songs as an institute choir, you do it, whether you sound like a donkey braying or not. And really, it wasn't horrible all the time. They actually, to my complete and utter surprise and delight, ended the last song very well. Goodness, though, I wish they had taken 8 good strong voices out of the choir and sang the two hymns as a double quartet.

Sorry, I am just a professional musician that needed to vent. I will be better now.

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Go see Ironman. It was good, it was worth it.

And sorry, I missed the memo, Robert Downey Jr. was cast as the main man? I thought he was in rehab or jail or both still...anyways, he did a good job I thought. I will buy it. (funny, I think I mentioned this once before, but there is a VERY good looking guy at work...his name actually is Robert Downey Jr...seriously, I checked, I found him in my Outlook mail, that is his real name).