Login

Conjuring Hogwarts

I was introduced to Harry Potter over a decade ago by a friend (Thanks Jenn.) and immediately fell in love with the fantastical world portrayed in these books. Since Jason is a longtime fan too we decided that before the final half of the last movie comes out we should prepare for its theatrical majesty by holding a Harry Potter party: a celebration involving watching the first half of The Deathly Hollows, eating Hogwarts style cuisine, and testing everyone’s Potter knowledge with a little house vs. house trivia contest.

We had quite the crowd at our party. All of the 20 chairs in our theater room had a butt in them.

As with all Sabin parties, I wasn’t willing to just let this be a mediocre get-together; I wanted it to be a party of Potter proportions! With that goal in mind Jason and I spent a large chunk of time making decorations and preparing food. We made mandrakes out of celery root and extendable ears and Galleons out of Sculpey. We further spruced up the décor with some homemade potions jars and few random items we dug out of our massive Halloween supply. Most impressive where the half dozen wands we designed using wooden dowels, clay, hot glue, and paint; they looked pretty convincing.

Each of the wands we made looked unique. It's amazing what you can do with some Sculpey and imagination.
We had a healthy mandrake crop made out of celery roots and silk leaves.

Our handmade sticks may have been perfect for a little flicking and swishing practice but man cannot live on wands alone. Yes, food would be needed to fill our bellies with magical fullness. However, Jason and I had a hard time deciding what victuals would be the most Potterish. Finally, after reviewing the books, we determined that students at Hogwarts eat an incredible amount of sugar in the form of pastries and candy so we agreed to make those the staples of the evening. We made chocolate caramel frogs and white mice candy and bought lemon drops, old-fashioned suckers, every flavor jelly beans, tarts, éclairs, and chocolate mousse cups. And, to keep everyone from going into a diabetic coma, we supplied a large tray of sandwiches. I know sandwiches aren’t exactly prolific at Hogwarts but cold meat pies wouldn’t have been very appetizing.

I made chewy chocolate caramel frogs instead of plain chocolate frogs. I love chocolate but blobs of straight chocolate that huge seemed a bit much.
These white mice were made more for looks than taste. They were mostly comprised of sugar and therefore resembled blobs of frosting.

Nothing washes down sugar quite as nicely as more sugar. This is why we provided pumpkin juice, which was really a pumpkin shake, and butterbeer as thirst quenchers. Converting standard soda into butterbeer was tricky. We took root beer and cream soda bottles, removed all their labeling, and replaced it with our own. It took some time but it worked splendidly.

We made three different butterbeer labels for three varieties of soda. You could chose your favorite: The Three Broomsticks, The Hog's Head, or Banshee Blend.

When the scene was set and the gorging underway it was time to focus on the night’s entertainment. We held this party in the theater room at Noah’s so we could comfortably view The Deathly Hollows from plush recliners. Oh yeah! After the show we sorted everyone into houses for a Potter trivia competition. The contest was intense but in the end Slytherin slid their way to victory.

I dressed up as Hermione for the party and Jason went as Sirius. Being Hermione was easy for me. Not only do I have the unruly hair, I've got the know-it-all attitude.
Jeremy Brown won the prize for best costume. He deserved it with his creative representation of Sirius in Azkaban.
We put a cell phone on speaker inside this hat so it could talk to the wearer. Our sorting ceremony was an amusing way to get attendees divided into teams for the trivia contest.

Creating the magic of Hogwarts was time-consuming and somewhat of an inspirational challenge but it was also fun. We hope the spell we cast adequately paid homage to the books we love.

Rachel June 15, 2011 1 Comment

U2 in Utah

I have been a passionate supporter of Bono and the boys since I was a teenager. I’ve seen them perform live a few times but when I heard that they were touring again I was still just as eager as always to go to their show.

U2’s concert in Salt Lake City was originally scheduled for last summer but it got delayed a year due to Bono’s emergency back surgery. The new show date, which seemed infinitely far away, finally came last week and Rice Eccles Stadium was packed with nearly 50,000 expectant fans. It was wonderfully chaotic.

Jason isn't wild about U2 but, being an electronics geek, he was wowed by their stage gadgetry.

Although I was patient with the crowds, even when they blocked the traffic on the concourse by packing excessively around a t-shirt booth, one attendee pushed my tolerance for social gracelessness. After Jason and I found our seats he left for a few minutes to get us a bottle of water. Literally 30 seconds later a random guy sat down next to me, put his arm around me, and asked if I was there by myself. Awkward. Surprisingly, after I told him that I was with my husband he didn’t hang his head and quickly depart with what was left of his dignity. It was as though he thought that by lingering he could somehow change my marital status or his appeal. Even more awkward. Fortunately, an apparently desperate woman sitting nearby caught our conversation and started talking to this weirdo so his focus was redirected away from me. Thank goodness! He’s all yours lady!

U2's stage had a huge circular screen. It was monstrous but the bigger the Bono the better!

Except for those few uncomfortable moments the concert was incredible. Bono, as always, was a terrific performer and the band played flawlessly but it was the unique stage setup that escalated this concert from fantastic to unbelievable. The 360 stage was specifically designed to provide an excellent view of the band from anywhere in a stadium; it definitely did that. We got plenty of close-ups of Bono’s beautiful face. The stage’s enormous screen wasn’t just for Bono ogling though; it descended and extended like a net at times creating a sophisticated electronic funnel. The four legs that supported this screen were about 150 feet high and formed a huge crabbish arch. The top of the arch was covered in all sorts of lighting including enormous searchlights that blasted the sky during “City of Blinding Lights.”

When the screen lowered it formed a masterful electronic webbing. Very cool!

The Dublin fellows rocked and their stage was super awesome! They played for about 2 hours with song selection heavy on the favorites. Great concert!

And just for the record, while I didn’t appreciate the advances of that creepy guy, Bono, I welcome your arms around me anytime.

Rachel May 31, 2011 No Comments

Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing

Salt Lake City is famous for its obnoxious religious uniformity and its fantastic snow. Not exactly the type of place you’d expect to find one of the best soccer teams in the world. But I can safely say, with a self-assured cocky grin on my face, that it is.

The Real Salt Lake became a MLS team back in 2004 and in just 5 short years they succeeded in winning the MLS Cup championship. I know it’s impressive but prepare yourself for further wowing. The Real, due to their MLS win, was invited to participate in the CONCACAF champions league, an international competition between the world’s best ranked teams. They miraculously beat out other contenders and made it to the finals for the champions league title, something an American team had never managed. A couple games versus Monterrey, a Mexican challenger, was all that stood between them and total supremacy. They tied the first of their two finals matches against Monterrey 2-2, which left them in excellent shape for claiming the title. Although they had already made history by progressing to the finals, we, along with other soccer fans in Utah and around the nation, were eager to see them crush the Mexicans and continue onto the club world cup. Their last finals game was at Rio Tinto stadium in Salt Lake City so Utahans had a rare opportunity to be a part of something spectacular.

Jason and I painted our faces in honor of the Real and convinced most of our friends to do the same. We are instigators of the awesome.

Jason and I were itching  to be in the stands cheering our team on at this second, and last, finals game but we didn’t know if that would be possible since Rio Tinto stadium only seats about 20,000 people, not nearly enough for an event of this magnitude. Luckily, Jason’s brother Jeremy is a Real season ticket holder and with that comes certain perks like getting a dozen of your friends seats to a hot game before the general public can buy them. Good thing because the public ended up not even having the chance to purchase tickets; they were sold out long before it came to that.

Jason's brother Jeremy is Real crazy...obviously.

Jason and I are so glad we didn’t miss out on this most awesome of matches. I have been to quite a few Real games over the years, and I have enjoyed every single one of them, but this was something else. The stadium was electrified! Energy seemed to bound and echo off the stands of passionate supporters becoming an ever intensifying wave. The attendees were a mix of hardcore Real fans and first time game goers yet everyone seemed to understand the significance of this match and they were all intent on making their presence count. The stadium was a sea of red and no one even seemed aware of the chair behind them; there wasn’t a butt in a seat to be found.

When the Real players took the field the crowd erupted into deafening cheers and confetti rained down in all directions like the deluge of fluttering ash from a paper volcano. It was beautiful and it was only the beginning. Onlookers kept up their focus and fervor throughout the game. At one point I glanced around at the crowd and noticed that so many of the spectators were hopping or jumping about that the stands looked like a massive ant hill swarming with busy insects.

Jeremy brought his kid Milo to the game. Milo seemed to really enjoy it. He gorged himself on cotton candy and dumped confetti on everyone; I'm sure that increased fun levels.

Despite their screaming fanatics, the Real couldn’t quite pull off a victory and they ended up losing 0 to 1. Monterrey scored right before the end of the first half and sadly the Real was never able to catch up, although they made an incredible number of attempts on goal. The Real played great even if they didn’t win and I think I echo the sentiments of most of their fans when I say that I am still very proud of what they accomplished. After all, they reminded the world that Utah is home to more than just crazy polygamists…it’s also home to hordes of red-faced screaming soccer loonies.

Rachel May 6, 2011 4 Comments
 Categories

Recent Posts

Recent Comments
Blogroll