So the season hasn't started out as wonderful as we might have liked for BYU football. BYU won the first ball game 14-13 over Ole Miss. Seemed like it should have been a bigger win, but it wasn't. Last week they played Texas and lost 17-16. The first half Texas was terrible and we looked great. The second half we had so much empathy for them we decided to give that terribleness a shot and of course we ended up losing the game. So to this point the offense has shown a little bit of good and a lot of messy. The defense has shown a good portion of great and a little bit of "what's going on".
So what is the "wow" referred to in the title. How about this: More people have watched BYU football on T.V. in the last two games (drum role) than have watched them on T.V. in the previous six seasons! That's amazing. That should have been worth an additional two points in last weeks game!
So today we play the University of Utah in the rivalry game. Should be interesting. Which team will win by one point? Even though the game's meaning is different since we both have left the Mountain West Conference, it still, like always will be one of the games that gets talked about the most. I mean if you are a cougar fan, what games do you talk about in years to come? The games we play Utah. For proof, I was on the phone with my daughter who likes football and of course we were talking about the upcoming BYU UofU game. She got so excited that she went on her smart phone and was playing a replay of the John Beck to Johnny Harline catch the won the game as the clock ran out a few years back. Her husband, not a big football fan didn't sound too excited. I guess you had to be there which she was or in my case getting texts from her as the game went along. This is the game we talk about regardless of what bowl we go to and all that kind of stuff.
Maybe this picture symbolizes BYU trying to stake their claim in the rocky ground of football independence.
Oh, and by the way, keep your eyes peeled for Prime Minister of Tonga and his wife Robyn Kaho. They are attending the game from Tonga and have family on both sides of the football.
This is Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson (The Piano Guys) playing for an older crowd. I hope when I am old that someone might come and do this for me. The song is the Charlie Brown Medley - Linus and Lucy.
Normally I don't get too excited when a song is redone by another artist. Every once in a while those turn out well but usually the original artist is the best. In this case a song by Adele is taken and done nicely in an instrumental format that I could really appreciate. I read that Steven Sharp Nelson used five different cellos in making of this song, here is a picture of four of them.
To be honest I hadn't heard of this song by Adele previous to hearing this new version. Apparently I'm the only one in the house that hasn't heard of it, but now I have.
For your listening pleasure we have Jon Schmidt and Stephen Nelson do the cover song by Adele--Rolling in the Deep. The video is fun to watch as well.
William Joseph is a piano prodigy. He started playing the piano at age 4. He tells the story that he was watching Fraggle Rock on T.V. and brought out his plastic piano to play along with the music from the show. His parents observed that and thought they better get him some piano lessons. He started composing songs at age 5.
Maybe we have Fraggle Rock to thank for the great pianist.
At age 8 William won a full ride scholarship to study with Russian teacher Stella Saperstein. He was trained classically but he says that he couldn't stay withing the boundaries of that type of music and enjoys making music that tells a story and is dramatic and cinematic.
He taught music lessons for a company in Phoenix Arizona and continues to do occasional short lesson stints for them. That job is what led to his playing at a charity event and a friend that introduced him to David Foster while Mr. Foster and his orchestra were doing sound checks several hours before the concert was to start. William had been married for one week. His hope was to shake Mr. Foster's hand. His friend ask Mr. Foster if William could play on the piano and Mr. Foster agreed. During the song Mr. Foster led his orchestra in accompaniment of the song. Mr. Foster asked William if he would open the concert for them that night. William was so excited, he called his wife to ask “Honey, do you have a nice dress?” From there he has become a well known and respected musician playing to large crowds.
William Joseph is LDS and works to live righteously. He has had to make some choices between fame and money and doing what is right. A nice article was written about him in the New Era magazine. He tells that he was not feeling particularly spiritual around age 18 and when he was asked to play in Sacrament meeting in a cousin's ward he went. There he saw a young couple that had just been sealed in the temple and he was struck by how they seemed to glow. He decided he wanted that for himself. In his own words: "I thought, ‘How will I ever do that? Someone like that would only want a returned missionary.’ And right when I thought that, it hit me. It was overwhelming. All of a sudden, music didn’t matter; my career didn’t matter; nothing mattered. And I knew for sure that’s what I had to do. I needed to go on a mission, and I’d be blessed if I did. After that meeting, after that incredible, spiritual experience, I got in my car, and I had this rock music blasting. That music felt so disruptive, so loud and just ugly and wrong. That was the experience that changed my life.”
He was called to serve a mission in Australia. He feared being away from music for two years as he hadn't been a day without music in his last 15 years. Fortunately his mission president recognized his talent and gave him opportunities to write and perform in addition to his regular missionary work.
William Joseph notices how his music and his example in life can have a positive impact on others. He sees people of all sorts from the refined to the rough person who hears him playing in a mall and is touched by his music. William feels like that is the Spirit that makes that connection. “Music breaks down barriers; it softens people. I’m not a man of many words; I’m not an elaborate speaker. But I absolutely have a testimony. I love the gospel.”
William likes to meet some of the people who come to his concerts because he likes to hear what they think. He not only likes to play for them but bring them on this enjoyable ride of being a well known musician as well.
I guess I still have hurricanes on the mind as I chose this song to put on my blog. It is from the album Within.
William Joseph: Butterflies and Hurricanes
Here he is interviewed on a British morning show called This Morning. He mentions some fun things about his music teacher, his big break into the music business with David Foster, and he creates a new song from four notes chosen by the hosts of the show as well as plays Asturias from his other album Beyond. This is an enjoyable interview of about ten minutes, so if you have any interest at all it is well worth the viewing.
What is the difference between a right and a privilege? Rights often need a modifier so we know what we are talking about, for example; legal rights, moral rights, God given rights, human rights and so forth. In these cases it refers to some decisive ability that we are endowed with because of some entity giving it to us. It is not unusual that we claim certain rights that are not a right at all but rather a hope, want or even a diversion. Rights are most often given to be able to do something, but rarely given for the purpose of not doing something. For example the right to not bear arms is not stated in that way. Rights are considered abilities and prohibitions are considered disabilities, as to what we can do. For example, it is well within my rights to drive the speed limit, it is not within my rights to exceed it.
Which brings up the meaning of privilege. It is true that privilege is defined as having rights. But it differs in some aspects, privilege refers to special immunities or exemptions. For example we may claim executive privilege to do something that those we supervise cannot do. Parents may have the privilege of staying up late at night that they may not allow for their children.
Laws and God tend to give rights not privileges. We tend to take privilege of our own desires and wants at a given time. Rights tend to be thought out and planned well in advance where privilege may be taken on the spur of the moment because of a momentary or unexpected desire. Rights tend to have less flexibility than privileges.
Keeping that in mind read this quote by President Joseph Fielding Smith in April Conference report 1967 (p. 120-121). "I have heard people say, and members of the Church too, 'I have a right to do as I please.' My answer is: No, you do not. You haven't any right at all to do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to...keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. he has a perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care who the man is; I do not care where he lives, or what he is--when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to him, he has no right to refuse to receive it. he has the privilege. he is not compelled to receive it, because our Father in heaven has given to every one of us, in the Church and out, the gift of...agency. That...agency gives us the privilege to accept and be loyal to our Lord's commandments, but it has never given us the right to reject them. Every man who rejects the commandments of our Father in heaven is rebellious".
Maybe a right is kind of like when we are kids and we ask permission to do something. If we are granted permission to do it, does that assume we also have permission to not do it? We have been granted the right to follow the Savior, to listen, consider and obey. We have no right to rebel or refuse or ignore or even be lazy. We are however given the privilege to do any of those things and many others according to our choice.
As I see it as manly men we recognize that we have no justification for doing any other thing than what is right. However we can choose as we please. So please remember that as you are maturing and growing in the gospel. Don't trick yourself into believing you have many rights to not do ...whatever. Instead, realize it is a privilege. Then we maybe can remember this famous saying: 'saved by right, hung by privilege'.
