Wizard Rock!

Lauren and Matt of Armored Bearcub

Kristina and Luke of ALL CAPS


So this summer I had the opportunity to see my first wizard rock show! I was actually able to see not one, but TWO shows. First up was seeing the tour called ROFLCOPTOUR which featured such bands a The Moaning Myrtles, The Whomping Willows, The Parselmouths, Armored Bearcub, and ALL CAPS.

I guess before I start telling you about the concerts, I should tell you what wizard rock is. It's music that is based on the book Harry Potter. The thing about wizard rock isn't so much about the actual music, it's more about the community. It's this group of loving, supportive, and amazing people who all share a love of a young wizard who saved the world. It spans the entire globe and all 50 states. It's brought forth an amazing charity organization called The Harry Potter Alliance who through this mutual love has helped bring awareness of the genocide in Darfur, brought books to citys and towns that have lost their libraries, and sent FIVE planes full of supplies to Haiti after the earthquake.

It's this great movement to making the world better by being kind, nice, and showing love. After all it was Dumbledore who said "The weapon we have is love". It's something that the whole of the wizard rock movement has adapted to their lives and it's something I truly believe in too.

Anyway, the first concert I went to was in Cody, WY. A VERY long drive away from where I live. My roommate Lisa and I drove 8 long hours to get to a show that was AMAZING. I met people who's music I've been following for about 3 years now.

It was an eventful trip. Driving home Lisa and I got hit by a deer (this is Wyoming after all) and had to stay in a sort of gross hotel in Riverton, WY. Yeah, it happened and it was crazy. It was amazing to meet Kristina and Lauren.

My second show was -Luckily- this time in Salt Lake City and it the headliner was the first Wizard Rock band I ever heard The Remus Lupins. It was an amazing show. This tour was called The Next Great Adventour. The bands playing at this one were The Remus Lupins, Skyway Flyer, and Gred and Forge. I had never heard anything by Gred and Forge previously but I LOVE them, well actually Jarrod. He's the only actual member of the band. The most amazing thing though was Alex knew who I was. I was touched that he would remember me in the sea of people who follow him and that he's undoubtedly met. I think when I mentioned that I used to sign all of the post I would put on his myspace as "Your biggest fan in Utah" helped, but it was still sweet he remembered me.

All in all it was so much fun to get to see them play live. I don't know when I'll have time again to see them. But I was glad it happened. Wizard rock is love. Love is all powerful.


Meeting all the Wizard Rock Boys!

Quote of The Day
"California dorks
We’re unforgettable
Disneyland like
Four times a week
Sunkist soda pop
and Flux Capacitors
Ohohohohoh Oh Ohohohohohoh"
-California Dorks by Jason Munday

Silence....

WOW, did you just see that tumbleweed pass by? It has been a long while since I've been on here writing about my boring everyday life in a way that makes you guys laugh!

But I am back with a new resolve to better document my life on here. Today won't be a day of angry open letters or long involved rant sessions. It's a list of funny anecdotes/updates. Truth be told, I'd like to write a long rant because I'm in a TERRIBLE mood which probably is in part my own fault, but partly due to other people. A rant would be good, but I would probably say some things I regret, so I won't. So you get a haphazardly thrown together list of funny stories and updates.

Funny Story #1

This last week Lisa (my roommate, more on her later) and I drove 8 hours to see a wizard rock band show in Cody, WY. Yes, I'm aware of how strange that sounds, but it was an adventure and I love me some adventure. Lisa was game for the long drive and so we road tripped it. I hate long car rides, but I enjoyed this because Lisa and I listened to music, talked about life, and I read to her out loud from a Norah Roberts book. Yes, a Norah Roberts book. Make all the jokes you want, but IT WAS FUN! The not so fun part was that while we were driving home from the concert (the same day) we had a deer hit us about 10 o clock at night. We ended up staying a kind of gross motel and then driving our sticky stinky selves home with a broken windshield and a driver side door that wouldn't open. The concert itself was amazing and I got to meet some people I've been wanting to meet for some 3 years now. It was a memory I'll have for a long time that I will revisit when I'm feeling sad. I also uttered a sentence that I thought would never fall from my lips "I'm glad to be back in Utah...where everything makes sense."

Update #1
I'm finally back at work with full privileges now that my back is healed!! Oh you didn't hear? I hurt my back 2 weeks ago. Nothing bad of course, just a muscle strain. It was bad enough, however, that was enough to send me to the ER, and then take me off of work for two weeks. I was so bored out of my mind that I ended up doing crazy things/dressing in crazy clothes to stave off the boredom (see funny story #1).

Update #2
I am also finally in my permanent apartment, at least for the next 6 months (that's how long our lease is). I plan to probably stay there longer, so long as everything is still working out with my roommates. I'm hoping to stay there for the entirety of my school career (May 2012). It's pretty great to not be living out of boxes, to put stuff on the walls, and to know (relatively) where everything I own is. I also picked up another roommate named Lisa (see funny story #1) who is pretty freaking awesome. We have a ton in common and I feel like she's one of my best friends already! Rachel is awesome, as usual. And the three of us are having a great time in our new place. I don't know how they put up with me some times.

Cool Story #1
I got to spend 2 really great days with my photography idol, Cat Palmer and I gotta tell you, that woman is an amazing person. She is so confident, so cool, so personable. She made my self esteem go right through the roof with her amazing attitude. I had gone on a date the night before our first day together (it hadn't gone so well) and normally I would have been bummed, but she just assured me that I would someday find the right guy. And if I didn't? I'd be just fine. Seeing her artwork gave me a new found motivation to create my own art. It was an amazing blessing to be with her, to realize that no matter how I look, I am of worth. She makes everything look so beautiful, you can't help but feel 100 times better spending time with her.

Funny Story #2
The cruise was AMZAZING and I had a great time turning 24 in Mexico. The surf lesson was one of the best ideas I've ever had. I was seriously tempted to just stay in Mexico and surf the rest of my life away with the whole Costa Azul family. They didn't make it easy for me to go back to the ship. They were all so cool. A whole family running a buisness together and a buisness that involved being at the beach every day? Count me in! Zip lining was also really really fun, and our two guides kept us laughing the whole time. We also took belly dancing lessons and I went ice skating. All in all it was an extremley worthwhile trip!

I'm not going to talk about my dating life at present (it's a large portion of why I'm in such a bad mood today) but know there might be a post in the future about it.

Cool Story #2
Lisa's boyfriend Austin brought us all three seasons of Avatar The Last Airbender. We immediately feel deeply in love with the show. It's funny, serious, lovely, and inteligent all at the same time. Because of that, I got really excited that the movie was coming out. I was very disapointed in how TERRIBLE the movie was. I hope that should they make a second movie, that they kick M. Night Shamalalmalaming out on his bad movie making ass.

Anyway, that is all, I'm pretty much done talking about myself, but I promise, I won't go that long again without updating.

Quote:
"I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And I've spent my entire life trying to get over it." Judy Garland