Life is good.: November 2009

A benefit concert was held for the Donner Galbraith Scholarship--bad economy means that endowments are suffering so there's less money to award in scholarships. So last night, November 17th, I went to a rock concert that was so touching. It was in honor of two students who died that were interested in social causes--and happened to be in a hardcore band. One of them was the main screamer. So a teacher of a history of rock class put together a concert to raise funds to help award the scholarship. Anyhow. Screaming isn't my favorite (though Adjacent to Nothing was amazing at it), but the whole concept of the concert to honor them and raise money for a scholarship to benefit a student that otherwise wouldn't qualify was rad. Fully support that.

This picture is of Adjacent to Nothing. So good. And the lead is the new president of Carnegie's new company. Very cool. Rockers who give back? I can get into that.

My camera was dying so I couldn't get as much as I'd have liked. They ended up signing a few people to a new record label that focuses on giving back, Carnegie Records (headed up by one of the nicest people I've met, Stephen Carnegie). It was a pretty exciting night all around. Though the juxtaposition of going there right after the temple (where I was released from living ordinances--weird) was really interesting. The headliner at the concert was Mark Slaughter, who has an amazing range and pretty much... well, wow. He was good. (drat my camera for dying...) ATN was really good. This new chica, Hailey Hendricksen, is going to be so amazing. She's a junior at Timp and the man that produces Celine and others was there to agree to produce her. Anyhow. Got to go to an after party, picked up a nice man who turns out has done amazing things and was one of the original people with Sesame Street at the airport, dropped off another famous wheelchair bodybuilder/dancer (yeah, crazy to see, but really cool). The end.

The three men pictured below tell an interesting story. The one on the left is Academy Award winning screenwriter, Barry Morrow. One of the nicest people. He said that he wants to write movies that make a difference. He also GAVE Kim Peek (center, click on his name to read his story--he's the inspiration behind Rain Man) and his brother Fran Peek (right) his Oscar (which they lovingly call "Oscar"). Since then, it has traveled millions of miles and been held by thousands. So Lauren and I held it too.

I think the donuts are a nice touch... :) The brothers live in Murray but travel extensively.

This first video is Steve Bush. He's an amazing artist. Later he was jamming with Slaughter and it looked like so much fun. I was jealous.

And then there was Mark who came out and played with a student who wrote this song (Steve Bush played too). This student, Brady Fullmer, is going to have this song produced and Slaughter is going to add lyrics and such. Pretty sweet. (Though for some reason it won't LOAD.)

This lady just sang for Steve Carnegie the day before the show and MAN she's got chops. So he decided to sign her too. She cried. It was beautiful.

Here's some Adjacent to Nothing for you: I didn't get the good bits. I really need to remember to charge my camera more often.

And, uh, yeah. Just the tuning?

I'm sure there's something better online, but here's from my camera of Mark Slaughter (and I'll add the rest of the song from youtube. You're welcome.). His voice was a little rough on the last song--though the earlier ones were amazing. But it was his playing skills that impressed me the most. And his humility. All of them stayed in the Hampton and wanted nothing special--they wanted all the money to go to the scholarship. VERY cool.

This is what the School of the Arts had to say about it:

11/12/09

Donner-Galbraith Memorial Scholarship Benefit Concert

Blake Donner and Jenn Galbraith were two socially conscious friends who shared a passion for life. After the two students died in a tragic cave accident in 2005, the Donner-Galbraith Memorial Scholarship fund was established in their memory.

November 17th at 6:30pm, in the UVU Ragan Theater, the waning scholarship will receive life as celebrities and entertainers perform and commemorate the lives of these two beloved students.

Sponsored by Dr. Stephen Fullmer's English 276R class and produced by Stephen Carnegie, the show will feature a wide variety of entertainment and be truly inspirational. Enjoy the evening with Oscar winning writer of the Rain Man and Emmy winning writer of Bill, Barry Morrow. Performing that night will be multi-platinum selling artist Mark Slaughter. In addition, local artists Broke City, Hailey Hendricksen, Brady Fullmer, and Adjacent to Nothing will share their musical talents. An unbelievable dance will be performed at the event by Aubree Marchione and Nick Scott, furthermore, Grammy award winning producer Keith Thomas, Curb Warner Record label President Loren Balman, and award winning producer of Children's Broadcasting Brad Smith, will also be attending the event.

Posted by UVU SOA

So I serve on an advisory board with some very lovely and influential women--who chose to use their influence (and loveliness) to do good. If you're interested in knowing what it is about: go HERE or HERE. The second one isn't updated, but it WILL be. We had our meeting at one of our chair's homes... Jeanette Herbert--the governor's mansion. So fun! She's such an amazing woman. The other chair is Carrie Gandolph (Gandolfo's...yum...) and is also entirely fabulous. With Ali Johnson, who started it, Joy Astle, Lauren Bluth... yeah, like I said, lovely women.

AND for work I got to help out at the adoption conference (which because of Jo has always been really close to my heart)--and Michael McLean, of the Forgotten Christmas Carols, was the keynote. Went through several tissues. Lovely man. Lauren and I got our picture taken with him.