Day 310: Mid-Singles Talent Show 2012

The South Davis mid-singles institute class hosted another great FHE tonight, and it was our group's annual talent show. Many talents, though our numbers were few, were on display, including several musical pieces (sung or played), Seth's reading of Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled," Melissa's and Robert's rendition of "Who's On First?", and Brian's interpretive dance to Kenny Loggins's "Danger Zone."

Following the conclusion of the talent show, all of the performers gathered for this group photo:

Of course you realize that good times were had by all.

No "Mere Mortals"

I attended a mid-singles Institute talent show last night. If you were there, too, then you were one of the few who showed up. It wasn't the greatest showcase of talent I've ever seen - after all, I, too, took part - but I woke up today with this quote of C.S. Lewis on my mind:

"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses. . .
. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and
the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with
one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no
'ordinary' people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures,
arts, civilisations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life
of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and
exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that
we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that
kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who
have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -- no flippancy, no
superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love."

Last night, I saw one of my friends, who is confined to a wheelchair, perform what he called the first "sit-down comic" routine. I saw another friend, also confined to a wheelchair, dance - yes, dance - performing several routines in his wheelchair to the tune of Kenny Loggins's "Danger Zone."

Truly, these are no "mere mortals," indeed.

Millstream's Got Talent, Again!

Monday night's family home evening featured another entertaining ward talent show - and by now, if you've been following the Epistle for any length of time, you know that Millstream Ward talent shows are definitely not to be missed.

The night featured several musical acts, including Pepe’s rendition of "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; a couple of numbers by my brother Ben on the violin; and some tune by Justine on the accordion (the name Among the other highlights - at least, the ones I have pictures of - were Austin's, Kurtis's, and Scott’s performance of The Fray’s "How to Save a Life" and Allison's rendition of "The Hot Canary" on the violin - costume included:




Our new high counselor, Bro. Jon Schmidt - yes, that Jon Schmidt, the pianist - also contributed his talents by playing an improvised blues duet with his son and accompanying his daughter Sarah on a song he’d recently written.

Among the other acts were Austin’s juggling showcase and Steve Allison’s amazing karate skills, breaking several wooden boards before our very eyes.


Yours truly contributed with another dramatic reading, this time doing my best (or is that "worst"?) interpretation of Britney Spears’s "Oops! . . . I Did It Again."

Good times were had by all.

Millstream's Got Talent

Last night, the good people in my ward put on another great talent show for our FHE activity. I always look forward to these activities, because they often show me another side of many people's personalities. It was certainly an opportunity for our new bishopric to learn a thing or two about us.

Among the highlights were several musical numbers, either sung or played; Tina and her sister's hula dance; and Brian and Steve’s movie about, well, nothing in particular - kind of like an episode of "Seinfeld" - that was very funny.

I contributed to the evening's activities by singing in a barbershop quartet number, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” with Steve, Pepe, and Dave Lauritzen, as well as by offering a dramatic reading of Hanson’s “Mmmbop” that, I think, went over well with the audience. Lauren snapped a picture of it and was good enough to share it with me:


For the next talent show, when and/or whenever that may be, I'm considering a dramatic reading of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe." We'll see.

We Have the Tools, We Have the Talent!

Earlier tonight, the ward's Family Home Evening Committee hosted a talent show. I don't know how the rest of y'all feel about talent shows, but I love 'em! There's rarely, if ever, a dull of boring talent, and I always learn many new things about people whenever I attend one.

True story: I once attended a ward talent show in which one person's talent was to walk on stage and pat his head while rubbing his belly for a few seconds, after which he promptly walked off of the stage.

Anyway, ours was definitely a very enjoyable talent show tonight. A vast majority of the talents presented were musical in nature, i.e. songs played on an instrument or sung. Among the many highlights were Darren's retelling of the Millstream Ward history, Jill's alternate-lyric version of "Part of Your World," Kathleen accompanying pretty much everyone's numbers and playing the French horn to boot, Mandy's potpourri of rejected Primary song lyrics, and Pepe's two Broadway numbers.

I have always wanted to try my hand at Beatnik poetry (think Mike Myers in So I Married an Axe Murderer), so my contribution to the night's festivities was a dramatic reading of Duran Duran's "The Reflex," accompanied by my brother Ben on the guitar. I think it turned out great. Ben, Pepe, Steve, and I also sang a barbershop quartet number, "Red River Valley," a cappella.

Thanks, fellow Millstreamers, for letting your candles give light to all in the house.