Grammy review

Well, the Grammys (Grammies?) happened a couple of weeks ago, and we're now almost upon the Oscars, so I feel compelled to give a fashion report. So for all of you who are waiting on pins and needles for my fashion opinions, here we go! I do not claim to be Nina Garcia, but I like fancy dresses, and this is what I thought. (And of course, there will be an Oscars follow-up when the time comes.)
BEST DRESS went to Mary J. Blige, wearing a sparkly gold dress by Michael Kors (the Project Runway judge). She looked fantastic in this dress. I hate belts, but this just looked great, and she won a ton of awards that night. I loved her hair too! She wins my fashion award!




My other picks for best dresses went to Carrie Underwood (the country singer) and to Shakira. Carrie went with the metallic/sparkly trend (not sure who the designer was). Shakira wore Carolina Herrera in a modest (for her standards) red empire waist dress. I would wear that in a second! However, I would never ever be willing or able to wear any of Shakira's other outfits. As she says, "Hips don't lie!"




Jennifer Hudson's outfit was a disappointment for me. She looked amazing at the Golden Globe awards (where she very deservedly won Best Supporting Actress) in the blue dress (though someone needs to iron for her!). But her red body-hugging Roberto Cavalli at the Grammys was not very flattering, in my opinion. The picture is actually at a very good angle.


I was also disappointed with Mandy Moore's outfit. I like her just for the reason that she was born in our old hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire. But this dress was a loser.


Another well-dressed starlet worth mentioning is Scarlett Johansson, wearing Monique Lhullier. And the reason she is worth mentioning is because she is going to play my character when Hollywood makes a bio-pic about Chuck, once he's a world-famous maestro. If she's not available, I'd settle for Sandra Bullock. :)

And who did Chuck pick to play himself? Neil Patrick Harris. AKA Doogie Howser, M.D.

Not Brad Pitt, not Tom Hanks...Doogie Howser.

So feel free to write to me and let me know which celebrity you'd like to have portray you in the movie, or if you have casting ideas for other people in our lives. It will of course have a limitless budget, so pick any celebrity you want. :)

Reviews

For Valentine's Day, Chuck finally agreed to go see "Dreamgirls" with me. The ladies in my office had been planning an outing to go see it, but it closed in our local theaters yesterday, so I had a limited window of opportunity. The verdict: Two thumbs up! I just loved all of their different outfits and Supremes-esque dance moves. But the singing was also really good. It's based on a musical, so if you don't enjoy that kind of movie, you might not enjoy "Dreamgirls," but even Chuck thought it was pretty good. (He cried at the end during the final song! Hee hee!)

And in all of the Buckeye madness, I somehow managed to neglect to blog-review my 2006 pick for Movie of the Year, which was: ROCKY BALBOA! If you are a Rocky fan, you MUST see this movie. My dad's fondness of Rocky rubbed off on me in a big way when I was little, and I was really in a Rocky-inspired mood preparing for my big audition. (The Rocky music is even my ringtone on my cell phone.) Chuck gave me a Rocky t-shirt and I was a big dork and wore it to the movie theater. The only thing I can compare it to was seeing the Star Wars movies in the theater (well, just the third new one) because it incorporated so much of the older movies (1 and 2) but it was ALL NEW!!! And when the theme music started at the beginning, it was just like hearing the big Star Wars fanfare.

So, am I a bigger dork for wearing my Rocky t-shirt, or for comparing my life experiences to Star Wars? :)

Two inches of snow!! Oh no!!

It is snowing here, and people are freaking out. People only drive in snow about once a year here in Bloomington, so this is a really big deal to them.

Finally, some news about Project Runway. The earliest it might possibly come back is JULY!!!!! Bravo hasn't even signed on for Season 4 yet.

The good news is that Tim Gunn is getting his very own show on Bravo. I hope it will be good, but I'm not optimistic, as much as I love Tim Gunn.

The Maestro

This is Chuck conducting the CIP during the Christmas concert last December - he just got some pictures from the concert.

Congratulations Colts!

We had a busy weekend. The CIP had a concert on Saturday night, featuring a tribute to Frank Sinatra. Chuck didn't conduct, but he will be conducting on the next CIP concert, in March. I'm playing piccolo in the two CIP concerts after that one - including BEETHOVEN 9! I also got a local Bloomington gig at the end of February, so things are going alright for me.

When we came home from the concert Saturday night, we found Lenny curled up on the couch. He won't sit on the couch while we are home unless we actually pick him up and put him on it; I think it's just a show so we will trust him while we are out...Busted!! He had rearranged all the pillows to make himself comfortable.

I am feeling a little less confident about my chances at IU - I don't think I'm going to hear anything until after all of the auditions are over in March, so I've stopped holding my breath.

We started our chamber music coachings with the flute professor this weekend. It's tough because I feel like I'm still auditioning, every time I see him! And since I don't have a lot of time to practice, my chops aren't in great shape and I don't sound fantastic. I'm a little frustrated, but it was a good coaching.



We spent Super Bowl evening at our friends' house, the Matravers-Keenes. They have a NEW 50" high-def flat screen TV - it was pretty cool! And of course, everyone was thrilled that the Colts won. It was not as exciting as a Buckeye victory, but people were setting off fireworks in Bloomington as I was going home.

Next weekend, Chuck has an ad hoc! The conductor who was supposed to have it got a little too overwhelmed, so Chuck is filling in for him. I was kind of relieved before when I thought the ad hocs were over - but no such luck. So I am on pizza and Rice Krispie treats duty this weekend, in addition to playing. He's doing Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto, and Carmen Suite #1 by Bizet. (There's a big flute solo in the Bizet!) So this week will be full preparing for that.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 90th birthday today to my grandfather!

My new friend Heidi

Something very exciting arrived in the mail today.



It was my new DRESSFORM!!! I am so excited!



It was my birthday present (THANK YOU MOM!!!) and it finally arrived, after a little delay in the mail.




I already have my first project planned - a dress - and I already have the fabric picked out. Tomorrow I start cutting!

(And I named "her" Heidi, in honor of Heidi Klum from Project Runway. She's currently "wearing" my MAKE IT WORK t-shirt.)

The audition is over.

Well, things are settling down here after the past few weeks. The office has been hectic, with class starting again, and new student orientation, but it is just starting to quiet down. People were also coming in to the office to give me their condolences! (About the Buckeyes) Chuck is back in classes and dealing with managing the Conductor's Orchestra again this semester. There has been more drama with that group than there should be, but he is managing it well.

My audition is over! I most of all am just relieved to have it behind me, and proud of myself to get my nerve up to actually take the audition. The two professors were there, and asked to hear almost all of the music I had prepared. My own personal assessment:

1) Ballade for Flute by Frank Martin - my strongest piece, written in the 20th century. They asked me what I wanted to begin with, so I chose this. It went very well, but right as I got to a point in the music where it changes drastically in mood and "color," they cut me off and asked for the next piece. I had practiced that change a lot, so I was disappointed I didn't get the chance to do it.

2) Mozart, Concerto in G - I played the traditional audition exposition of the first movement, and they also asked for some of the second movement. One of my comments during my mock audition last semester that my Mozart was too heavy, so I'd really been working hard to lighten my tonguing and tone. I think I achieved that, but I'm not sure enough musicality and phrasing came through. The same with the second movement - it was boring.

3) Sonatine by Pierre Sancan - A French piece (another flute audition staple). The piece is in three connected movements, with a cadenza stuck in after the second. The two most challenging elements of this piece for me were the cadenza, which made no musical sense to me, and the first movement, which was a very tricky mix of technical playing and mixed articulation, while trying to achieve a light and floating tone. The last (fast) movement I had DRILLED into my brain - I had worked for hours on it with my metronome. So when they asked for this, the professor I want to study with said that he had always thought the cadenza was really boring, and asked me to start at the end of it (essentially the beginning of the third movement). So I avoided both land mines! It was a solid performance, not stunning.

4) Orchestral excerpts. I had chosen Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (lyrical, also had good feedback on this from my mock audition), R. Strauss - excerpt from Salome, and Stravinsky - Firebird. So I learned the hard way to never select the Firebird excerpt to do voluntarily on an audition! I had rehearsed it the same way, slowly with the metronome, and had achieved a decent level of playing, but it was just a disaster in the audition. It was embarrasing! But they asked for Salome after that, and I achieved some effects that I had been struggling with in practice, which I was pleased about. They didn't ask for the Debussy.

And that was it!

I happen to know that the Admissions Committee meets next Tuesday (the conference room where they meet is in my office), so I hope to hear something relatively soon, in the next few weeks. I really feel like I have no idea whether or not I will get in. I keep convincing myself one way or the other, and re-hashing everything in my brain. Regardless, I'm lucky that I will still have the opportunity to attend the flute masterclasses and orchestral repertoire classes next year if I don't get in to the program.

We need some suggestions on some new tricks to teach Lenny! He has a hard time with anything that involves his back legs (sitting is even still difficult), but I think he's a little bored with the old tricks.

We still love Troy and Tressel!!!

Happy New Year!

We had a great time over Christmas break relaxing at the Latshaws' house in Toledo, Ohio. (I did a lot of practicing too - my audition is on SATURDAY!) We got to see all of Chuck's side of the family, including our 6 nieces and nephews.

Santa came to visit the day before Christmas Eve and brought all sorts of goodies for everyone!
As you can see in the picture, Chuck grew his traditional "Christmas Beard," but a few days after shaving it off, decided to also shave his entire head.


I gave Chuck a remote-controlled airplane for Christmas. He flew/crashed it several times before getting the hang of it. Due to its many repairs, it was named after me - "The Tape Queen!"




On Christmas Day, Chuck's parents left for New York City, so we had the house to ourselves. We just vegged, relaxed, crashed the airplane, and practiced. It was great. I felt really well-rested after it was over, which I needed! I was sick at the beginning of vacation but got over it after about three days. Lenny also had a great time relaxing, as you can see from his grin. I just found him lying on the couch like that, with that expression on his face. It was really funny!



We did miss spending time with the Russells, though. And look how much fun they had without us!! They are all getting ready for the big Buckeye national championship game tonight. Dad is wearing his new Jim Tressel sweater vest, and Walter his new Buckeye shirt. Even the Christmas bear has Buckeye spirit!









For Christmas, my parents gave us a couch! We were thrilled! While we were still in Toledo, we went to the IKEA in Canton, Michigan to see if we could pick one out. We found one we loved, for the right price, but then of course had no way to get it back to Bloomington.



So once we got back to Indiana, we checked every furniture store in town, to make sure the IKEA couch was definitely our favorite - it was. So we rented a mini-van and drove to TWO Chicago IKEA stores, and bought new furniture for our apartment! (Thank you to our respective grandparents, Bubs and Grumpy and Christel, for making the purchase of our entertainment center and coffee table possible!!!)





So our apartment looks completely different now - it looks great! I am going to make some blue pillow covers for the couch, to tie in the light blue on the walls. And of course Lenny has made himself right at home on the couch.



So the new year is off to a good start for us. Today is the first day of school - Chuck's last semester! I am also going to be taking TWO classes this semester - chamber music, playing in a flute duet with my friend Hyun Jung, and another orchestral repertoire class, taught by the other flute teacher at IU.

Happy Holidays!

I understand that my mom has recently publicized my blog address, so to friends and family who are visiting the blog for the first time, welcome! If you have news or pictures you'd like to share, feel free to send them to me at klatshaw@gmail.com Usually I just report on myself, Chuck, and our dog, but other updates are a great way to keep up with everyone. So if you'd like to bookmark it (I try to update it every few days), point your browser to http://latshaw.blogspot.com!

Considering that we haven't even put up our Christmas tree yet, it's looking doubtful that I'm going to be sending the Christmas cards anytime soon. So I want to electronically wish everyone reading a very happy holiday season, and give a little Latshaw/Russell Year in Review!

The highlights of our year were our visits with our family. My sister came out to Bloomington to visit us during March, which was great because I had been particularly homesick. She is doing very well in school, and will graduate in May with her nursing degree. During the spring semester she'll be working in the neo-natal intensive care unit in her hospital. (The picture is Annie with her boyfriend, John, who is a teacher in Connecticut.)

In June, we got to see both sides of our family. First we traveled to my parents' new lake house in Maine, where we spent several days relaxing. From there we went to Holland, Michigan, to spend a few days on Lake Michigan with the Latshaw side. We got to see all six of our nieces and nephews and had a SUPER time.


My parents got to go to Turino for the Olympics, which inspired an invitation to the rest of the Russell family to participate in the "Slow Olympics" in Maine. The Games took place about a month after we visited, so we were unable to participate, but they had a great time.

As you can see a few posts down, we also met my parents in Columbus, Ohio for a Buckeye football game! We got tickets for the IU/OSU game and had a great weekend. It was a big highlight of a fantastic Buckeye football season! (We also managed to teach Lenny to growl at the word "Michigan!") We also spent Thanksgiving with the Russells in Connecticut (photos also below in previous post) - my favorite holiday to spend with my big family!

We are also looking forward to seeing the Latshaw/Boros/Cooper clan next week in Toledo, where we'll celebrate Christmas. I don't have to go back to work until January 3rd, so we'll have a nice long break to spend time with them, and maybe take a short little trip to Chicago. We haven't been able to go to a lot of our nieces' and nephews' birthday parties this year - I was especially disappointed we missed the Superman party - and I am looking forward to seeing all six of them. (And one more niece is on the way!)

Chuck has a great year at IU. A year ago, Chuck was just beginning his work with the Columbus IN Philharmonic orchestra. He's been very busy with that this year, conducting on two concerts, and running the youth orchestra program. He's done many other performances at IU, including his Master's recital in February and Beethoven 7 this summer. He also guest conducted with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra for their summer pops concert, which included a lively Looney Tunes medley, complete with a carrot serving as Chuck's baton (what's up, doc!?). If you'd like to see any of his performances, he's posted them all on his website, charleslatshaw.com, and on YouTube. He's had over 40,000 hits on his conducting videos!

Chuck will graduate from Indiana University in May with his master's degree. Job prospects are improving for him; he's had a few conducting applications where's he's made the semi-finals or finals for positions. Most recently, he was one of 4 finalists for an orchestra that had 140 applicants for the music director position.



Chuck had the big achievement of running a half-marathon this fall. I'm still working on finishing a 5K...one of my New Year's resolutions. My cousin Greg also just recently ran his first marathon - congratulations!

The dog, Lenny, had a bigger year than he probably expected to - and certainly had bigger vet bills than we expected! In February, he tore his ACL in his knee, which required surgery, and he had about a six-month recovery before he was using his leg fully. He's about 90% back to where he was before the injury, but no longer pulls me along when we go jogging together. It's also a little more difficult for him to steal anything off of the kitchen counter. Chuck has changed from disciplinarian to big softie since his injury. "No snacks! No people food - EVER!" has turned into daily reward treats. "No dog in the bed!" has turned into napping with Lenny next to him.

My year consisted mostly of working away in the advising office for the music school at IU. My mother-in-law June has been giving me a lot of great sewing advice and lessons, and I've actually made an article of clothing that I could wear in public! I got to play in a lot of performances, including a "tango opera" by Piazzola this summer, and some new compositions by IU composers. I also was incredibly lucky to take an orchestral repertoire class during fall semester with an amazing flute professor. Monday night class was the highlight of my week - it was really inspiring for me.

However, at the end of the summer I played a couple of really bad auditions, mostly due to the fact that I didn't have enough time during the day to practice adequately to prepare for them. I was working 40 hours a week, practicing before work, at night, even during my lunch hour. So combining that frustration with the excitement from my flute class led me to a big decision - I've applied to start a "Performer Diploma" program at IU next year, with the professor who taught the class. Keep your fingers crossed for me - I'll play my audition in about 6 weeks.

Some other exciting things this year included my friend Jen's beautiful wedding, and my friend Amanda getting engaged! We've enjoyed having her here in Bloomington just a block away from us.

So with Chuck finishing his degree, and me possibly starting a new one, who knows what will be going on next time this year. I hope that the next year will bring lots of good times with family and friends again. Be happy and healthy, and come visit us in Bloomington anytime!

Thanksgiving pictures

Thanksgiving with the Russells!


The Big Kids Table


Bailey, hoping for a miracle


Thanks for the sweatshirts, Mom!

Troy Smith for Heisman!

We had a great time celebrating the Buckeyes’ victory over M*ch*g*n a few weeks ago. We had several friends over, including Aaron and Amanda (who was one of my suite-mates back at OSU) and Renee, one of our fellow OSU School of Music alumni.



I made my famous Rice Krispie treats with a new twist. With a little food coloring, I made Buckeye-shaped krispie treats!



Thanks to my mom for sending me some cool scarlet-and-gray Nikes to wear for the big game! ☺

I was very relieved that Florida made it into the national championship game instead of M*ch*g*n. I also happen to be the biggest Troy Smith fan in the state of Indiana. I can’t wait for tomorrow night for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. ESPN ran a wonderful story about his humble beginnings and his “heroic” climb to the top.
The class that he and Coach Tressel always put forth makes me proud to be a Buckeye!

Don’t even get me started on Brady Quinn (QB Notre Dame). I can’t believe he won the Maxwell Award over my beloved #10 – and he’s so smug it makes me want to barf. I CAN’T STAND him. And the Notre Dame coach wears hoodie sweatshirts to games – a huge fashion faux pas compared to Jim Tressel’s nerdy-yet-cool sweater vests.



We've had a lot happen since the Big Game - I'll update you soon with some pictures from our Thanksgiving with the Russells.

GO BUCKS!