Les Mis!

Paul and I were able to get away from the kids for a few hours on Saturday so we watched Les Miserables.


Here are some of my major thoughts:

1. The most powerful story in the film is the transformation of Jean Valjean. He goes from a prisoner to a truly amazing individual, full of integrity. When things get difficult, he always chooses the right, even when it seems impossible. I love so many of the songs, but I particulary love "Who am I?", when he is having an internal battle about what to do - remain as mayor or reveal his past and by doing so, freeing an innocent man. This is such a deep question that we should all ask oursevles - "Who am I?" What do I stand for? How do my choices make me the person I am today? I was so inspired by this line of thinking, that I ditched my Superbowl themed Primary singing time (I'm the Primary choirister in my ward) and we seriously had a Les Mis themed singing time. I started out by telling the kids the G rated version of Jean Valjean, and I'm not kidding, all 87 kids in our senior primary were transfixed!! We then sang some songs that really answer the question "who am I?", including I am a Child of God (really, the ultimate answer to that question), I'll walk with you, Nephi's Courage, I'm trying to be like Jesus, etc. I love it when I can use the media, and especially really positive messages in this kind of way.

2. The story between Jean valjean and Javert is definitely the best. Once Javert jumps (which is super intense in the film!), I kind of wanted the movie to end, but it seemed to drag on forever! The love story between Cosette and Marius has always been just so so for me.

3. Loved Anne Hathaway! Definitely worth the hype! I've seen the play probably a half dozen times in my life and have never felt such an emotional and wrenching connection to the character of Fontaine.

4. This show is definitely PG-13. As in the play, there is some sexual content (though I didn't feel it was over the top, and I've seen worse on the stage), swearing, and violence. There was more violence than there usually is in the stage production and the battle scenes were longer. I thought they did a good job at portraying the consequences of violence (something that is often lacking in the media) -the scene with the women cleaning up the blood was chilling, but a good one. The song "Empty chairs and empty tables" really hits you hard - that these people....his friends....are really never coming home.

Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this film!

Dancing babies - Gangnam style!

As promised, here is a link to the full clip of those dancing babies. You have to watch the full thing- these kids have serious talent!  Love it!

 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4700990876243

NPR interview - violent video games

Today I was on NPR! For those of you who haven't yet made the leap to talk radio, NPR stands for National Public Radio. They have certain programs that literally are broadcast across the nation, and then some that are state specific. I was on the latter today, on one in Oregon. The topic: Violent video games. With the Sandy Hook shootings fresh on everyone's minds, we all want something to blame. Obama just announced TODAY his intention to tighten down on gun control laws (which if you've taken my adolescent dev class, you know how I feel about that!) The NRA (National Rifle Association), in a very interesting statement is more or less blaming media violence (and specifically has mentioned video games) as a primary cause of gun violence in the US. Check out the story here: http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/21/16069537-nra-blames-media-music-and-more-for-culture-of-violence?lite


And ironically, two days ago the NRA just released an iPhone app where you can practice and hone your shooting skills on a virtual range.



My own thoughts are that until we look at the ENTIRE scope of aggressive behavior, we won't get very far. Media violence, access to guns, poverty, bullying in the classrooms, child abuse, etc. etc. etc. They are all small parts of a very large problem.

I was absolutely sickened by the shootings in Sandy Hook Elementary - but I'm glad that we are seriously talking about violence as a nation. And I was excited to do my part today. The interivew lasted about a half hour and really focused on the question - does playing violent video games influence aggressive behavior? I focused on the research showing it does, and they had Prof. Christopher Ferguson come on as the expert who says that it doesn't.

We will talk ALL about this very topic in our class - and remember the name Christopher Ferguson! He'll come up later. But I really contemplated saying no to this interview. I've had quite a bit of experience talking with the media, but I despise live radio interviews (live TV is even worse - I've done that twice!) You can't take back anything you say, the presenters can ask you ANYTHING, and I always end up feeling very anxious and rather stupid - even if I'm saying good things! But this is one way to get what I feel is a very important message to parents, so I do stuff like this.

You'll note I haven't really talked a lot about video game violence in this post. I want to save it for our massive discussion on the topic, BUT, the thing about today that struck me is that this issue is not going away any time soon. The debate rages on. It will be very interesting to see what this next year brings us!

What's your favorite TV show?

I was telling my family about our class today and I realized that in all the times I've taught this class, I've never asked my family what their favorite TV show is and why! So that was the topic of conversation at dinner tonight. Here were their answers:

Nate (age 8) - Favorite show: Pokemon. Why?: "Because the pokemon are like animals. Like you know Wailord? Well, he is like a WHALE. And I just love animals".


Hannah (age 5): Favorite show: Strawberry Shortcake: Why? "Because she is so nice and is such a good friend and always does the right thing" (can we get a collective "ahhhhhh" here?)

Paul (husband): Favorite show: West Wing. Why? "Because Kristin Chenoweth is in it" (cheeky bugger).


Aidan (age 2): Favorite show: "Georgio" (Curious George) Why?: "Because it's my favorite" (Here is a great pic of Aidan sitting by his favorite character on a boat to Ireland! So cute!)

Well, there you have it! No surprises for me AT ALL and not all that insightful, but it was fun dinner conversation anyway!