Dealing with Il Divo

It's no secret that the Il Divo guys are good-looking.
And talented.
And successful.
And rather sexy.
But they have the good sense to play it down, for the most part.
Except for Carlos, the bass singer from Spain...he works it.
He flirts shamelessly and reminds the world he's single, wink, wink!
His shirt is open and he kind of swaggers around the stage.
The audience — mostly middle-aged women — on Tuesday night, loved it and him.
My husband just laughed.
He was roped into going with me to review the concert and played the good sport.
Marc chuckled when the foursome stepped onto the stage and the audience gasped.
I don't think he was expecting everyone to instantly fall in love.
But as they sang love song after love song with gusto and fervor, it quickly became apparent that these singers know their stuff.
They move with confidence.
They smile with their eyes.
They create an aura of magic.
I enjoyed all three hours — really, three hours — of their music, even though most of the songs they performed are oldies but goodies.
They sang in all kinds of languages, flawlessly, powerfully.
The only mistake I heard in the whole concert was actually made by the lady singer who joined them for segments of their North American Tour.
She said she just loves the clean air in Salt Lake City and for some reason, that didn't go over as well as a lot of the evening.
Perhaps someone should tell her about our inversions.

A TV Mystery

I've never really understood television, how it works and why it matters.
For me, it's enough to know which button to push to make it go.
I rely on Marc to choose which provider gives us the signal, to create a favorites list and to know which remote to keep handy.
So when our collection of remotes became unwieldy and finally stopped talking to the TV altogether, I was unaware with the gravity of the situation.
I figured we needed new batteries or a new remote.
I listened to Marc's despair without true concern.
For one thing, he can usually fix anything to do with signals and buttons.
For another, I knew he would not go very long without a working television.
It matters to him. (Me, as long as I can get "Bold and Beautiful," I'm good.)
He was alarmed when I told him I couldn't get the television to come on anymore — even after I sort of rebooted by turning the power on and off.
He picked up the four remotes and started pushing places.
Finally, he cried "Uncle!" and we hauled the set over to a repairman in Orem.
Sixty-five dollars later, we had a death sentence.
He said a Blue Tooth chip in it stopped responding. He said Sony no longer makes the kind of TV we had and no longer provided a remote that worked with it either.
Marc was livid. He called Sony up and hollered at several underlings.
We checked on our warranty. (Of course, this TV is just over the 2-year period.)
The repairman gave us back our TV and said we might try buying an infrared remote if we could find one. We found one for $85.
Then we had to find a computer that could upload the program. Mine was not up to the task. We tried my daughter's.
It did it...for a minute...then it stopped.
Totally discouraged, Marc told me to take back the expensive remote but the cashier wanted to know if we had talked to the people who made the remote.
We hadn't. Marc was skeptical but he did it and, ta da, it's currently working.
We're thrilled and relieved not to have to toss a perfectly good TV or spend $600 for a new one.
But I'm not sure we can hold our breath and cross our fingers much longer.

'Noah' on the rocks

Donny Osmond recommended we all skip the movie "Noah."

This entertainer who successfully played the part of Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" said the prophet in the movie was unrecognizable.
Here's what he posted:
"I just saw the movie Noah. I really wanted to like it. I really did. However, I still like Russell Crowe despite the movie.
"I would not recommend it.
"It's completely inaccurate and I was thoroughly disappointed in the portrayal of a great prophet from a book I hold dear."
At first we laughed. A guy who played a prophet in a musical spoof calling the prophet Noah a fiction?
We should have listened to his advice.
As it turned out, Marc and I sat through what I call "Noah and the Transformers" mostly open-mouthed and in a state of disbelief.
It's not that we expected a churchy movie.
We expected grit, earthy behavior and some slight deviations from the Bible.
But, come on, a stowaway hiding on the ark where eating meat is the greatest sin?
A creator who can fix a barren woman but can't find a bunch of berries to eat?
Giant rock guys guarding the place, rock guys who talk to God with an edge of bitterness because they were left behind the first time?
All the animals drugged into endless sleep as the ark sails along? (That cuts down on the noise, the needed feed and the waste problem.)
An ark without cubits?
A God who wants Noah to kill baby girls so as to ensure that mankind dies out?
Here is a movie written without faith and hope and, frankly, without a God of truth and love.
It makes one envision all these screenwriters in a room trying to make this story work without the essential elements.
"Let's see, Noah has to be a man, just a man...hmmm, fueled by rage and despair. We can't have him actually communicating with God.
"The world has to be worried about him but not because he's preaching repentance and change but because he has things they want.
"He can't be a wimp."
Noah has to keep his word to a God he doesn't trust or like.
He has to operate alone with only Emma Watson to set him straight. 
It's makes this more of a comedy than an actual drama. It really is strange and disappointing.
We just can't wait for the Mystery Science Theater guys to get a hold of it.