Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Un

Well y'all the 30 Seconds To Mars concert had to be re-scheduled until April, so in the mean time I'll talk about my friend Brandon Leland's group Till I Fall.  Brandon has been involved in music since before I can remember and I went and saw one of his shows earlier this month. 

Till I Fall is a duo made up of Brandon Leland (guitar, drums and vocals) and Yasmin Shirazi (vocals).  They go back and forth from electric to acoustic.  On their non acoustic album work you can find Brandon playing rhythm guitar and drums, while his friends Bo and John from Stick Up Kid take on lead guitar and bass.  Till I Fall has an Alternative/Pop Punk sound, with a little Power Pop in the mix...kind of like Hey Monday, for those of you familiar with that band.

Till I Fall performed at Nickel City when I saw them.  The sound wasn't great, but there is no way to deny the talent they have.  They performed two of their own songs as well as covers by both All Time Low and Mayday Parade.  Till I Fall is destined for some great things.  They have a show coming up again on February 11th, and their EP Release show should be coming sometime in May.  Their release show is going to be so rad!  Nothing is set in stone, but in the mix of bands for the EP Release you may be able to find Till I Fall (obviously!!), Pounders, Blood and Water and Stick Up Kid.  All awesome bands doing a great job of repping the Bay Area.  Till I Fall shirts should be coming soon too!  You can expect me to be wearing one around for sure!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1627490975#!/pages/Till-I-Fall/157920764235253?v=info
Listen to: "This One's For You" and "Photographs and Lullabies"
CHECK OUT TILL I FALL ON FACEBOOK.  GIVE THEM A LISTEN!

New Years resolutions aren't my thing but...

So I'm not really into the whole New Years resolution thing, but this year I made one.  My resolution is to go to at least 1 concert or theatrical performance a month.  After I have done so I will blog about my experience and review what I saw.  For January I have already accomplished my resolution, but won't be blogging until after the weekend is over because I am going to another show this month.  I saw Till I Fall perform this last Saturday, but this Saturday I am seeing 30 Seconds to Mars with my sister.  I have high expectations for this show.  I'll let y'all know how it goes...

Memories: January - October 2010

I have to say that 2010 may just be one of the best years of my life.  A lot happened.  Some great things came out of 2010, but a lot of sadness did too.  The summer leading into the fall and winter was by far the best part of the year.  I'm going to re-cap some of my favorite memories from throughout the year, so come along with me and take a little journey down memory lane :)

(Photo Credit: Dan Cater)

I started out 2010 by doing a little show called High School Musical 2.  I met a group of the greatest girls who have made a huge impact in my life.  The impressions they left will last a lifetime.  We laughed, we cried, we laughed a lot, acted stupid, made videos, sang, danced, and laughed even more.  These girls became like sisters.  We could finish each others sentences and could just look at each other and knew exactly what the other was saying.

Later that year in May we had 8th grade weekend.  We took the 8th graders to the Boardwalk and then had a special service for them on Sunday.  Nicole and I had to say goodbye to one of our most beloved students that year.  Kayla Gregory not only graduated, but moved to Pennsylvania.  It was a very bittersweet moment.  The group of 8th graders that graduated that May were a true group of leaders.  They are already growing so much in high school and I can't wait to see where God takes them in life.

At The Cracker Barrel in Memphis with my cousins and other family

All of us on Beale Street in Memphis

At Sun Studios in Memphis

Graceland

Beale Street

At Mr. Tooties

Blackwater Baptist Church in Manila, Arkansas.  Church my family built.

Mississippi River

Great Granny and Grampa's old house.  Hadn't seen it in almost 16 years.

One of, if not the biggest highlight of the summer was finally getting to visit my family in Tennessee and Arkansas.  I can't tell you what a blast I had with my cousins and aunts and uncles.  We stayed with my Aunt Trudy and Uncle Tommy for most of our trip and they live in Covington, Tennessee which is about 30 minutes from Memphis.  We also stayed one night in Manila Arkansas, so we could visit my Aunt Willie, and then go see my Uncle Jerry and his farm.  We also got to see my cousin Houston while we were there.  So much history lives within the city of Memphis and I feel so blessed to have been able to experience it.  All of the years I dreamed of going to Graceland finally became a reality.  It was such a surreal experience and within my top 3 memories to date.  I miss all of my cousins so much, but it was fantastic to spend time with them and catch up on the years we had missed.  Fingers crossed that cousins Jennifer, Walton and Slappy (Weston) will make it out here this summer.  While they are here I will be missing my Hatcher cousins and of course my cousin Beth Anne Caery.  I really hope they can make it out to California soon...if not I can't wait to go back to Tennessee!!

Fourth of July I spent with my best friend.  He surprised me and came home.  2010 was really hard for us both.  We had only seen each other 2 times all year long.  Fourth of July weekend I also bought my first brand new car.  A 2010 black Ford Focus which I named Dallas....of course :)  We spent July 4th in San Francisco and sat on the beach to watch the fireworks and watched some drunk people dance around in the ocean.  It was quite entertaining...

Hume Lake 2010 - Excusez-Mwa?

This may have been one of my favorite years at Hume Lake.  The cabin Nicole and I had was so fun!  We had such a great group of girls.  We came in 2nd place...again, trailing right behind Niki's team.  This week at Hume challenged the kids more than I've seen any other year.  Our speaker Chris Brown talked all about the self centered world we live in and how important it is to put God first in your life. 

Four Year Strong

Matt Wilson from Set Your Goals

Pierce The Veil

Attack! Attack!

Set Your Goals

Set Your Goals

Warped Tour 2010 was a total blast, but a little hectic because of all of the bands I wanted to see.  Four Year Strong, Set Your Goals, All American Rejects, We The Kings, Sum 41, Mayday Parade, Pierce The Veil, Attack! Attack!, and Enter Shikari just to name a few.  I finally got to meet one of my favorite band members of all time, Matt Wilson.  I did however make a complete idiot of myself...typical.  Also met FYS.  They were seriously fantastic guys.  Super sweet and extremely funny.

Gramma Ginna, Aunt Mae, Aunt Loretta, Aunt Trudy, Aunt Willie, Aunt Ora Lee,

Taryn, Me and Papa Jack

I was able to see my aunts Mae, Trudy, Loretta, and Willie this summer when I was in Tennessee, but was lucky enough to see them again later in the year.  It was a very rare thing indeed considering we are lucky if we see them every couple years.  My cousin Dan died from cancer and so my aunts came out to California to be with my Aunt Ora Lee and help her through the grieving process.  It was so nice to see all of the sisters together.  I look up to these women so much.  Their hearts inspire me everyday and are amazing examples of Christ's love.





 

Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
   If this be error and upon me proved,
   I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

It is so funny to think that back in the day these sonnets Shakespeare wrote were for money.  I guess you could say they were the Hallmark cards of the 17th century...well as far as Shakespeare's sonnets were concerned anyways.  People would pay him to write these sonnests for loved ones, and so it just makes me wonder about the people these sonnets were given to.  What was their story?  It's kind of crazy!!  Out of the 154 sonnets Uncle Bill here wrote, not including the ones in his plays I believe #116 to be his greatest work. 

As we all know I am a HUGE Shakespeare nut!  I think he was completely brilliant.  I read his plays over and over again just for fun, and I'm still just as entertained as when I read them the first time.  I pick up new things everytime I read his work, and sometimes I envy how romantic and clever he was.  I wish I had a talent like that, but I guess with the talents I was blessed with I do have the ability to bring his brilliant pieces of work to life....afterall, Bill's work was meant to be acted, not read.

Now back to this sonnet.  What amazes me is how utterly romantic it is, yet the strong truth behind what love should really be as far as two people are concerned.

sighhhhh...

Just Like Heaven

so the title of this has nothing to do with this blog entry exactly, just the song I woke up singing this morning.  I talked to a friend last night about a situation I was in and she had given the advice to another friend the 6 months was a good amount of time...

What I do know, is that if things work itself out and that's how long it takes, then hopefully I will be getting the best belated birthday present I've ever gotten....



THE END.
p.s. I don't expect anyone to understand this....just needed to get it off my chest.  A new more understandable blog entry will be coming later today.

Oh and another thing....only 3 more days!!!

"Playing music in the wake of the Blink thing was like finding love in the middle of a war zone.” - Tom DeLonge

I really like this quote from Tom, because I feel like with whatever passion we have we tend to hit bumps in the road, but through what we love to do it brings everything together.  The fighting stops, the depression, the whatever it is you go through, just for those moments, but then everything falls a part again when it's over.  Why is that?  Why is it that through music and performing (I will use this as my example because its what I love to do) we can put everything aside for that time and work together, but can't function on a normal day to day basis?

What do you think it is?

It's something I have been pondering for a while which I can't put my finger on.  I know when I perform or start to sing I'm in an alternate state of mind, and maybe that's it.  Maybe it is the alternate state of mind we find ourselves in when music takes over.  

I guess when people say music is therapy it really is.  For me I find it to be a self confidence booster.  When I'm onstage singing in a musical or performing at a recital or competition I feel like I am as beautiful as I can be, not just physically, but emotionally too I guess.  It's that cycle of communication with the audience, where you feel as though the audience could almost feel your heartbeat because they are so close to you with feeding off your emotions and what not.  You can relate to people through music...it's like you have a whole new group of friends even if you've never talked to them before, because they respond to your emotions and you feed off theirs in such an intimate way.  It's amazing how music does that...how you don't have to speak, you just feel and use your other senses.

What is it about music that is such a universal language.  What is it about the way that God created us that makes music so easily enjoyed, relate-able, and emotional?   Maybe it's because God designed worship as such an important part of praising Him...that could be it.

It just amazes me that you can have absolutely nothing in common with a person, yet the one thing you do have in common is how much you love music, even if you don't listen to the same genres.

I know that now I'm just rambling, but it's a lot to ponder don't you think?  Why DOES music create such a strong bond amongst people?  A very debatable topic indeed...

(Photo Credit: Dan Cater)

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

A lot of people claim to "have the best friends in the world", however I am most certain that I do.  I have 4 friends who I would do anything for and 4 friends of whom I would crumble without.  I'd like to pay a little tribute to these 4 friends who complete my life and mean everything to me.

1. I'm going to start with my best friend John Castillo.  I consider him my brother.  I don't know where I would be without him.  It is hard for me to explain my relationship with John because we are so close.  Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that we came from separate moms because we function like twins.  We sense when each other is sick or unhappy and we both become depressed when apart for long periods of time, which is a struggle since John moved to San Diego for school.  John is the perfect best friend.  He has the best advice and loves me more than any other friend I've had.  John and I have had our share of fights...big ones that would tear most friendships apart, however we have managed to get over them.  God must have something important in store for our friendship, we just know it.  I would be lost without John...I feel like he is part of me, like we were one person split in half.  Never did I think that two friends would be so close.  He is so supportive of who I am and is so proud of me and I couldn't ask for anything better out of a best friend.  John is the person who I can laugh with about the dumbest stuff that other people would look down on us about or think we were super lame.  John has taught me a lot about who I am and has helped shape the Christian I am because I find him to be an inspiration and role model.  I look up to him so much because he is such an amazing person.  If I could be just half the person he is, I'd feel as though I have accomplished more than I thought I could in a lifetime.

2. Next up is Nicole Presley...my wonderful little Nic Pres!!  Nicole is like my sister.  I look up to her so much when it comes to bible knowledge.  She is so smart, and I aspire to know just as much as she does.  Nicole is the best co-leader I've ever had.  The way we work together is magic.  We are always on the same wavelength and I love that I don't have to say anything to her, because she already knows what I am thinking.  We never argue, but if we disagree, she is so smart and relaxed about things.  We work things out so easily.  Nicole is one of the most reliable people I know.  She will put aside whatever she is doing if I need someone to talk to, and she is ALWAYS there for me.  I can't think of a time she hasn't been.  Nicole is so comforting and so fun to be around.  She is a wonderful role-model for the middle school girls we work with and she brings an excitement and energy to everything she does, which inspires me.  Oh, and did I mention that she has the most gorgeous curly hair??

3. This is Melissa Palmieri...we are notorious for taking awkward pictures.  Melissa has been my best girlfriend since high school.  We spent every waking moment together my senior year that we just became attached at the hip.  I think Missyla makes me laugh more than anyone on this list.  We have laughed to the point of almost vomiting because we couldn't breathe and our stomachs hurt so badly.  We have had some of the craziest adventures...things that would only happen when we are together.  She is so beautiful and has one of the most AMAZING singing voices.  We dance in the car together, are known for getting in car accidents and somehow always hit each others' bosoms by accident.  We still can't figure out why.  My greatest theatre memories ALL involve Missyla.  we have done countless shows together and she is the friend I can expect to respond to a text at 3am if I ever need a friend.  Melissa and I laugh about THE STUPIDEST things and ask each other the dumbest questions that we would never ask anyone else for fear of humiliation.  We are also known as the 2 girlfriends that know every single lyric to most Eminem songs.  Melissa is one of the best listeners and has a joke for every bad situation just to lighten the mood.  We are the oddest friends for sure, but lovable none-the-less.

4. Last but most definitely not least is Brett Knight.  I don't even know where to begin with him.  I've known him for the shortest amount of time, but have one of the strongest connections with him.  Brett gave me the best compliment I have ever gotten back in July when we were at camp.  I had opened up to him about my past and fears about the future and he told me to look at Proverbs 31.  He said that I didn't have to worry because everything that God said a woman should be is what he saw when he looked at me.  Anyways, Brett is a super special.  I love spending time with him because he is such an uplifting individual.  He has probably the best sense of humor out of anyone I know and he makes me smile WAY too much.  Brett is the type of person that can completely turn a bad day around.  He can make the rest of the world disappear.  He can make you forget anything that was upsetting you and boost your spirits without even trying.  I love how we "bicker" constantly...even though he always wins.  I love the fact that instead of finishing my sentences he can finish pretty much any song I'm singing.  I also look up to Brett a lot.  I really aspire to be the type of Christian he is.  He is such a leader and I think it's super rad how cool he is.  Brett is always there to keep me company and I love that I can talk to him about anything.  It's great that I can be my total dorky, sassy, odd self around him, yet that's what makes him love me even more as a friend.  When I am around him I tend to say the stupidest things that I never say around anyone else...as humiliating and annoying as it is, i can't help but love it.  Even if he never does let me live it down.  Brett is hands down the most amazing guy I know and deserves the best out of life.  He inspires me to chase after my hopes and dreams because I feel like he is the perfect example of having an ambition for something you love to do.  There are about eleventybillion other marvelous things I could say about Brett, but I don't have the space to do so.  Next to John, Brett is my #2.  He means the world to be, and I feel a little cooler everyday, just because I associate with him.  haha.

“A friend drops their plans when you're in trouble, shares joy in your accomplishments, feels sad when you're in pain. A friend encourages your dreams and offers advice--but when you don't follow it, they still respect and love you.”