My Strange Introduction to Russians

Today I got a present from Brigham and Alex. This is what it was: 

Things to enjoy about this song:

1. The instrumentalists with bags over their heads. I'm crediting the bags to one of two reasons: A. they can't actually keep a straight face during the song or B. if they look at him, his hypnotic smile distracts them from playing. Also, I would like to do a little call out to the accordion player. It takes a high level of talent to play the accordion with black cloth covering your face. 

2. The audience. From my understanding, the bowing is impromptu. Kind of like a weird modern day Shaker assembly... but without religion to explain their weird behavior.

3. The Japanese subtitles. (I apologize if they aren't Japanese. I am fairly uncultured when it comes to Asian linguistics.) But apparently they share my love of Russian culture.

4. His dance moves. And smile. And eyes. And dance moves. And smile. AND dance moves. And high notes... No explanation needed.

5. The key change. You didn't think he could go higher? Yea, well, he can. 

All in all, every time I get stressed for the next week, this is going to be my go to pick me up. And if I get bored of this one, if that is even possible, I'll just watch him singing techno in a white, full suited, bell bottomed onesie. I'm not even making this up- it's on the Tube. 

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. If it's just one of those things that AK thinks is hilarious and the rest of the world doesn't appreciate, I'll keep him to myself. I'm finding this song highly addicting...

I should probably check if it's against the honor code. 

The Humility Factor

It's taken me a while to pick up to one of the biggest characteristics of BYU. Here's what happens: You meet someone and have a good conversation, both parties decide they want to be friends. You start to figure out the basics of their personality, inside jokes are developed, you talk and walk, sometimes if you are really good friends you make them pancakes in whatever shape they want. Moral of the story, they become one of your best friends. You construct a picture in your mind as to who this person is. Then, one day, that person will tell you something that completely changes the scenery of the picture. I also refer to this as the 'humility factor.'

Example 1: Bryant Boyer. Awesome guy. Super nice, a great listener, really smart. Then one day at the ward talent show, he starts playing piano. He's not just playing with remarkable skill, but he composed what he's playing. My mind was blown. I didn't even know he played piano. He still owes me a jamming session. 

Example 2: Some lady that came in and talked into my Music 176 class. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I sang in the My Little Pony commercials? Sorry... (She also sang Tang, Yoplait, you name it. Talk about random.)

Example 3: Braden Clark. Awesome guy. I found out he was Jack in Into the Woods, which is automatic win points because, lets be honest, Into the Woods is one of the best musicals in the world. And I say that from a completely unbiased perspective. Then, one day, I ran across this. 

This guy is worth watching the full 12 minutes. It gets better, and better, and better. No biggy, one of my best friends rocks at speech and debate. And I just realized how much rocks is an understatement. 

While we are one this subject, call out to Brian Kessler and Sam Schedler for winning first place in the Varsity Duo category yesterday. I'm proud of you guys!

Throughout this week, I've realized how big of a thing the 'humility factor' is. Everyone at BYU has some secret talent that they refuse to show the rest of the world. It might be the "pride comes before the fall" thing. OR, they don't want their bishop to find out for fear their talents will be called on via ward calling. 

I think it's the appropriate time to tell everyone I can fly.