Feeling the Tug

I hope some of you guys were as surprised to read the Olympic Creed as I was. Both the creed and the news story were brought up in Sarah's message about Resilience this past Sunday at Mosaic, but I'll probably get to that later.

Plenty of stuff has gone down in the past week or so, so I probably won't be going into too much detail. Let's see...ahh yes. Last Friday night was Idina Menzel at the Wiltern! Unfortunately no photography was allowed inside the theater. You weren't even allowed to bring a camera in. I put mine in my pocket and snuck it in though. Anyway, this is the only picture you'll get.

My coworker Mike and I grabbed a quick but excellent dinner at Luna Park Restaurant before heading over to the theater. Once there, we hung out in the lobby of the amazing art-deco building and had a drink. It was probably a mistake for me to drink, however, as some of you may know that I have the stomach and bladder size of an 8 year old, and alcohol only makes things worse. In the hour and 15 minutes or so between when we got to the theater and when Idina went on after the opening act, I think I went to the bathroom at least four times. Luckily, though, I didn't have to go once she was onstage.

Before the show started, we saw and stood next to Bruce Vilanch, and yes, he looks like that in real life, too. Before Idina went onstage, her husband Taye Diggs walked through the audience looking for his seat, and walked down the aisle right next to our seats. It was pretty cool. Girls were going pretty crazy and stuff.

Anyway, of course Idina was great. Although the theater was huge, she played it like a small intimate theater, telling stories and interacting with the audience. She just seemed to be having a great time, very confident and comfortable in her own (unique) skin. One of my favorite parts of the show was when she kicked off her shoes and started headbanging to a cover of "Heartbreaker." And then, when the song ended, she still had energy, and had the band do the end of the song again. Even her band seemed to be having a great time, smiling and laughing along with the audience.

Other highlights were of course her musical theater songs, like "No Day but Today" from Rent and an a cappella solo version of "For Good" from Wicked towards the end of the performance. A lot of the stuff from her albums was great, too, including "Brave" and "Where do I Begin" which are some of my favorites.

Of course, Idina finished her encore with the song everyone was waiting for, "Defying Gravity." She performed the whole song while sitting on the end of the stage. The intimacy and emotion of the moment was amazing. Idina is great.

Saturday was a Digital Designer trip to Universal. Amy, Emily, Ian and I spent a fun day at the theme park. Here's a shot looking down into the Valley onto the Universal backlot at everything the fire cleared out. It's pretty crazy. Luckily you can see that the Courthouse building from Back to the Future was spared. And of course beyond the backlot you can see the Warner Bros. studio (wow, the Dark Knight seems so long ago!) and past that you can make out the top of the abc building and the rest of the Disney studio.

Here's a shot of the same basic area in the winter. You can't see as much of the backlot, but you can get a gauge of how big the fire was.  You can also get a gauge of how much clearer the air can be in the winter, ha.

Anyway, at the end of our day, we had a fun dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood in Universal Citywalk. Once we got back to Westwood, we decided to head to the Westwood Brewing Company for a drink and to see if we could catch any of Michael Phelps' race. Luckily we could. How about that guy, huh? What a great story.

Sunday was a pretty regular Sunday, with some running, phone calls on campus, and an afternoon and evening downtown at Mosaic. Jason Jaggard delivered a message on discipline which was very cool, but then the coolest thing was when Erwin came out and introduced John Naber, a member of the Mosaic community and USA Olympic Swimmer at the 1976 summer games in Montreal. At the games, John set four world records and won five medals, four gold and one silver.

Erwin and John spoke about Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, and John's own Olympic experience. They talked about the training and discipline involved in all of their Olympic successes. It was pretty amazing to be able to gain such insight into the world of the Olympics as they were happening. As always, check out the podcast. 

This past weekend, the highlight was definitely a day at the beach Saturday with the roommates. Garrett, Chris, David and I went to Dockweiler Beach, where Goodwin's Church was having a beach day. Dockweiler was pretty cool because it's right at the end of the runways at LAX, so planes are constantly flying overhead. They usually aren't too loud, but every once in a while one of those huge double decker planes headed to Asia or Europe fly over and then you can't hear anything. It was fun though, because when that would happen you could just yell obnoxiously. Anyway, we played some hardcore beach volleyball, swam, relaxed and ate burgers on the beach. It was awesome.  

Saturday night I met Tegan and Ian at Amy's where we hung out, had some wine and ate Sprinkles cupcakes. They were delicious. We ended up watching the movie Crash, which I had never seen, and in a weird way, I found the movie pulling my heart to the city of Los Angeles, where it takes place. The movie was very powerful and amazing, not to mention the opening scene with Sandra Bullock and Brendan Fraser taking place right on Broxton, a street in Westwood I walk down every single day. I don't know what it was exactly, but it was definitely one of the first times I really felt a pull from Los Angeles.  Weird.

Sunday was a classic Sunday, with a run at UCLA, a few phone calls and a trip downtown to Mosaic. Again, walking to the Mayan Theatre and during my evening at Mosaic, I just could really feel the tug of the city on me. 

I don't really know how to describe it. I mean, I love the city, but there are plenty of reasons why I don't like it, too. I don't think the pull is for selfish reasons, since coming back to LA in the future would involve me giving up so much of what and who I know and love. At the same time, part of my noticing the tug came with my realization on Sunday though that the utopia of love and friendship that I feel at school in Cincinnati will not always exist, and when we start to graduate, people moving all over the country is pretty inevitable. 

At Mosaic on Sunday night I was reintroduced to Mayan all-star Jason Jaggard, and I mentioned to he and Adrian that I has been feeling a tug toward the city, and he told me "Just give in, man! Let it pull! Let it pull!" He said this place needs good people. Although I am definitely far from being "good people," the idea of living and working for healing in a place with so much need and brokenness right under the surface of so many is an amazing thought.

It's really weird having these thoughts with so much time left before I graduate. How much of a different man will I be in 2010? That's crazy. 

For now, my plan is to try to go to New York on co-op in the winter, to not pass up the opportunity to live that life for three months. I've got to say, the City of Angels has taken up a space in my heart that will not easily be forced out, and if nothing works out in the big apple, I'll definitely keep an eye on Southern California.

I am definitely going to try as much as possible to give up all of these decisions, both those in the coming months and those in the next few years. When the time comes, these decisions are not mine, but God's, and I don't want to get in the way.

A few weeks ago at Mosaic, Erwin McManus said that when you truly love God, what you want and what he wants becomes the same thing, and that is when life becomes the most fun. That is what I want. I'm not together, but I'm getting there.  

If anybody wants to get a small glimpse into a little of the city of Los Angeles that I have come to know and love over the almost six months I've spent here, check out this album on facebook, where the shots from church and the marquee are from.  They're not brilliant, but I think they do a good job showing a side or two of LA that you don't see in movies. 

Well kids, two weeks from tomorrow I fly back to Pittsburgh, having no idea when I'll be back. I have to say, though, I am confident that I will be. Man, I have a lot to think and pray about.

Rock on, everybody. 

Resilience

THE OLYMPIC CREED

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

A Champion

A Weekend with Sis

This past weekend my sister Jaimie came to visit, and we were able to do a good amount of stuff and have a lot of fun. Here's the report.

I borrowed Garrett's car to drive to LAX to pick up Jaimie on thursday night. While we were waiting for her luggage, we saw a celebrity, but neither of us knew what he was from. He did, however, get in a limo so it was legit. He looked like he could've played a vampire on tv or in a movie, or I thought he looked like he could've been on Laguna Beach or something. Well, he wasn't. I think probably I'll be watching tv in a few weeks and I'll see him and it'll click.

Anyway, Friday afternoon, Jaimie and I went up to Hollywood for our trip to the Hollywood Bowl to see the star-studded Les Miserables in Concert. Our concert wasn't until 8:30, but we went to Hollywood to walk around so Jaimie could check out the place. She actually was very impressed by the stores in Hollywood and Highland. This Ed Hardy or whoever stuff is apparently pretty popular, so the kids tell me. Who knows.

Anyway, here we are up on the overlook above Hollywood Blvd. with downtown in the background. Good times!

Jaimie and I had a nice dinner at a Crepes place (where we both had paninis), and after some more exploring we walked over to the shuttle bus stop to take the bus up to the Hollywood Bowl.

Everybody had been telling me how awesome the Hollywood Bowl was, so I knew we were in for a treat. As we got off of the bus, we looked around and everybody had picnics baskets full of dinners and wine and whatnot. Jaimie and I were obviously newbies eating before we got there. Ohh well, there's always next time.

Jaimie and I found our seats about an hour and a half before the show and sat down in them. I was absolutely amazed how cool the bowl was. I didn't actually expect to be able to see the Hollywood sign from inside the place, but we actually could!

Aparently the Hollywood Bowl is the largest outdoor amphitheater in the United States or something, holding almost 17,000 people. Can you believe that? 17,000 people on the side of a hill? That's about the capacity of Mellon Arena. Crazy.

So Jaimie and I sat and chatted, skimmed the $1 program, and watched an episode of the Office (Gay Witch Hunt - what a classic!) and the sun began to set as the Hollywood sign faded into darkness in the distance and Hollywood magic filled the air.

So how was Les Miserables in Concert at the Hollywood Bowl? I'm not sure words can describe it. First of all, I had just been expecting the cast to be wearing costumes and standing at microphones or something, and maybe they'd act out a few action scenes or something. But no! Although they slimmed the show down a bit, it was fully acted and performed! The cast acted out every scene out in front of the orchestra. They even used some set pieces, tables and chairs, a gate outside the mansion, and piles of junk on the barricade. The atmosphere and talent more than made up for the lack of a turntable (as much as I love that in the full production).

The performers were absolutely top notch. J. Mark McVey, a Les Miz alum, was an absolutely fabulous Jean Valjean, sounding very much like Colm Wilkinson at times. He poured plenty of emotion into the performance, nailing Valjean's high notes, one of my favorite parts of the music.

Brian Stokes Mitchell, one of Broadway's top leading men, did a great job playing the villainous Javert. I've listened to plenty of Brian Stokes Mitchell on the Ragtime soundtrack, where he played Coalhouse Walker Jr, but you might be able to remember him as having played Hillary's boyfriend Trevor on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Remember the bungy-jumping? Yeah, ouch. I didn't quite love him as much as I enjoy Terrence Mann's Javert on the original soundtrack, but that might just be because I love hearing Terrence Mann's Beast sing "If I Can't Love Her" from Beauty and the Beast.

Wow, this post is definitely shining more light than I'd like on my love for musical theater.

Anyway, Melora Hardin, aka Jan from the Office was actually pretty good as the tragic Fantine. Although she definitely had the weakest voice of anyone in the cast, she worked hard to sell the performance, and did a great job.

Finally, the last major standout in the show was the one and only Lea Michele as Eponine, probably the best character. I saw Lea last summer in New York in the original cast of Spring Awakening, and she was definitely great in it, but her character didn't really have any opportunities to really let out and sing. However, when Eponine sang her first lines, I got chills and knew we were in for something special.

At the end of the first act, all I could think about was how amazing "On My Own" was going to be in Act II, and it did not let me down. Lea Michele was absolutely amazing. She walked out into the audience on the wall between the orchestra pit and the main seating area, and with a single spotlight totally owned what is easily one of my favorite songs ever, period. She held out the last big note much longer than would ever be possible in the real show, but in concert at the Hollywood Bowl, it was completely natural. As she belted out the note, the entire crowd burst into applause. The orchestra paused for a moment, then continued as Lea finished the song to 16,000 people worth of applause.

Oh look, here's a bootleg video of her performance. How did we live before youtube? This may or may not have been the night we went. Either way, it's awesome. Lea Michele, you rock.

It's funny how much going to Hollywood Bowl actually feels like the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater, where you watch Fantasmic at Disney World. Unfortunately there was no historic wave like many of us in the North Allegheny Tiger Marching Band took part in back on that amazing night of January 1st, 2002 (I think that was the date) but it was still impressive how much the Imagineers got the feel and atmosphere of their amphitheater right. Nobody but me would probably ever think or recognize that. In keeping with what I've experienced at Fantasmic, when Les Miz ended, we joined into a huge mass of slow-moving people as we all made our way between the trees to the exit.

Saturday, Jaimie and I went to the Santa Monica to spend the day at the beach. It was beautiful, and we spent the afternoon getting tans, reading and relaxing. At last, my farmer's tan is disappearing, probably right when I leave LA it will be gone. Jaimie and I had a nice dinner outside at an English Restaurant at the beach, then came home, ate some ice cream sandwiches from Diddy Riese, and enjoyed the Olympics.

Sunday, sis and I took a explored UCLA's campus a bit. In the sculpture garden was a lot of art Jaimie didn't understand, and I didn't really understand it either. It's a cool campus, for sure, but I really do miss my home base in Clifton.

After our mini-tour, we went back to the apartment and met Garrett to head up to the Getty Center. After sitting in plenty of traffic, we had a great time exploring the museum grounds and the art inside. There was a super cool exhibit on Bernini sculpture. That work must've taken so much patience.

After visiting the museum for a few hours, we all headed home, and Jaimie and I went downtown to the Mayan for Church. I was really excited to take her there, and it was an awesome service. The dancers performed an AMAZING dance, there was a sweet video about my friend Ben, also the subject of the basketball story in Erwin McManus's book Soul Cravings. Erwin's message was about determination, and making decisions about what kind of a person you want to be. I definitely recommend checking out the podcast.

Leaving Mosaic is going to be one of the hardest parts about leaving Los Angeles. It has just been so awesome and helped me to focus on what's important out here. Luckily I'll have Erwin's books and Mosaic podcasts back in the 'Nati, and who knows, maybe I'll be back here someday, whether its soon or not so soon.

Jaimie really liked church and was surprised to find out how cool the people there were. We drove back home and watched some more Olympics, including the U.S. swimming relay that absolutely rocked.

Phil and I took Jaimie back to LAX on monday morning as the weekend of my visit with sister ended. It was definitely great for Jaimie and I to have some time just the two of us, which we definitely hadn't had very much of. She and I are definitely very different, but we have a lot in common, too. I'm looking forward to how much fun it will be when my sister and I (and hopefully my brother) have families and kids and we all hang out together. I think it will be a lot of fun.

Tuesday night I went with Garrett and Amy to a bar in Hollywood to see Garrett's friend from Oklahoma, Samantha Crain, perform. It was great and we stayed for a while watching the other performers, including this very cool girl Jackie Tohn. That wasn't really the exciting part, though, the highlight was that at the bar we saw Dominic Monaghan, aka a hobbit and Charlie on Lost! He was just hanging out. Then, when Jackie Tohn performed at the end of the night, Seth Green showed up! Both of them were much shorter than I imagined, but Seth Green was tiny!

They were my first non-movie premiere celebrity sightings of the quarter, and they were fairly solid. Garrett and I wanted to walk up to Dominic and talk to him about the ways that he really didn't need to die at the end of the third season, but we didn't.

Well, it's now friday afternoon and tonight I'm going to see Idina Menzel in concert with one of my co-workers. I'm super excited. After all, she's Idina Menzel. Then Saturday is a return to Universal Studios. Should be quite a weekend.

I hope everybody has a great weekend, too!

I miss you and love you all.

Rock on.

Movies, Mountains and the Mouse

Hey Everybody!  Sorry it's been so long since I updated the blog.  Here's a photo update showing you the highlights of the last week or so.  

I think it was Last Wednesday night that the Pineapple Express premiere was held in my neighborhood, so as always, I stopped by to check it out, since it is impossible to avoid while walking from the bus stop to my apartment.  

In terms of sheer number and caliber of celebrities, this was probably the biggest premiere yet. The first person I saw was the one and only Huey Lewis, looking as 80s as ever.  Then of course, Judd was there also, who I saw at the Step Brothers premiere, too.  Then I spotted some more of the Apatow regulars, and bam, there was the one and only James Franco.  (I actually was very happy with Harry's character arc in Spider-man 3)

I saw more people like, Seth Rogen, the girl who plays Seth's girlfriend, and then the big guns arrived. Jack Black stepped out a limo down the street, which was very cool.  Then by far my most famous celebrity sighting yet came when one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Jim Carrey, decided to show up with Jenny McCarthy.  It was pretty hard to get a good picture of them, but if you look in the single photo I did get, you can see Jim Carrey is the bald head with sunglasses.  Oh, and check out Ed Begley, Jr. on the left there.  He's a good guy.  

Finally, here's a shot of the one and only Jon Voigt.  Star of movies like Mission: Impossible and the National Treasures.  I still haven't seen the sequel yet.  I should.  I do like America a lot.  

Let's see, there were a few other celebrities I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention, and there were a few that were at the premiere that I didn't see.  One more person I did see was Stanley the Manley from the Office.  I'll tell you, these Office folk are all over this city.  I'll have a future example when I write about this weekend.

Last Saturday the connections team at Mosaic (people I volunteer with) organized a hiking trip up in a canyon in Pasadena. Needless to say, I was stoked to go, especially finally feeling connected to people there and feeling like I belong.  So a bunch of us went hiking up between the mountains and it was super cool.  

Our destination was this waterfall, a very nice little spot tucked into these tall mountains.  I should've worn my suit so I could go swimming in it when we got there, but I was worried about chafing and stuff on the hike back out of the canyon.  

My roommate Garrett joined the group, too, and I was thrilled to have him come along and get to know some of my friends at Mosaic.  Here's the group, walking back from the waterfall.

After hiking, we all drove back to Cara's house in Pasadena where we ate a delicious lunch of sandwiches, watermelon and other summer foods on her front porch.  

On the freeway driving to Pasadena, Garrett and I passed by the Disney Studio in Burbank. When I saw the water tower with Mickey on it, I sort of started to yell and Garrett got mad. Regardless, he was happy to take a quick pit-stop at the studio on our way back home to Westwood.  

We drove to the studio and wonderfully, the gate to the famous animation building was wide open, allowing me to get this beautiful money shot of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, formerly Walt Disney Feature Animation, designed by renowned architect Robert A. M. Stern.  

The gate was probably open because the animators are hard at work animating the Princess and the Frog.  In case anyone didn't see it, you can check out the teaser trailer for Disney's triumphant return to classic hand-drawn animation here.  Keep up the good work John Lasseter.  

Unfortunately the main studio gate was locked on this Saturday afternoon. Still, I took a moment to bask under the glory of the Walt Disney Co. archway. 

Peeking through the fence, we saw University of Cincinnati alum Michael Graves' beautiful Team Disney - The Michael D. Eisner Building and the Disney Legends Plaza sprawling in front of it.  I love that it is classic Michael Graves, only instead of pillars, the seven dwarfs are holding the building up. Some may disagree, but I wouldn't say its too over the top.

Here's the wonderful water tower.  Oh, the magic of the Hollywood that never was!

Here's a close-up stalker shot of more Michael Graves and seven dwarf goodness. The coolness of this building almost makes up for the way his Swan and Dolphin Hotels mess up your view inside Epcot. Almost.

Walking around more of the studio, I found this other nice little classy studio gate.  That's the late Aldo Rossi's big ABC Television Studios building in the background.  

This week for some reason the sky and smog decided to clear up a bit, giving us some beautiful views from our office at work.  This is looking north up to the mountains.  The white speck in between the two towers is Griffith Observatory, a highlight from winter quarter, and the Hollywood sign is hidden by these buildings.  

Here is what it looks like through our windows to the East, looking back at downtown. It's only about 6 miles to the city, but some days you can barely see the silhouette of buildings through the smog. This was a beautifully clear day. It looks a lot grosser through the camera than it did in real life.  Still, from what I've seen of the Olympics, it doesn't look like Los Angeles has anything on Beijing.  

LA has a pretty cool downtown. Oh and check out the giant Kung Fu Panda billboard on the side of a building a few miles away off to the left.  

That's it for today. Hopefully soon I'll post about this weekend.  My sister and I are having a great time! 

Take it easy. Miss you all!