Good vs. Evil

So, I wasn't going to post anything until after I finished reading Harry Potter so that all of my posts about it could be together, but The Ready Set was too important. I will now resume my "Themes of Harry Potter" posts.

Book 4 is when the most prominent theme of the series really comes into action. Good vs. evil. Harry vs. Voldemort. The Order of the Phoenix vs. the Death Eaters. Dumbledore's Army vs. The Ministry of Magic. What side are you on?

The wizardry world was racked with death, terror, and the struggle to survive when Tom Riddle became Lord Voldemort, the wizard who went further in the dark arts than any other. He has faithful followers who will do anything to find favor with their lord. They do his evil bidding of torturing and killing all those who are not pure blooded wizards. They are called Death Eaters.

The Order of the Phoenix is a group of wizards who do everything they can to stop the Lord Voldemort and save those who aren't pure blood.

When the wizardry world thought Voldemort was destroyed after the killing curse made for Harry backfired onto himself, they lived a comfortable 13 years free of fear. In book 4, Voldemort succeeds in regaining power, calls his Death Eaters back to his side, and narrowly misses killing Harry again.

Harry tells Dumbledore about Voldemort's return and his escape from death. Dumbledore tells the Minister of Magic right away and tells him what he needs to do to get a head start on stopping Voldemort before it becomes what is was 13 years ago. The minister, Cornelius Fudge, refuses to believe it. Dumbledore then tells him the following:

"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius, we have reached a parting of the way. You must act as you see fit. And I--I shall act as I see fit."

Fudge accuses Dumbledore of working against him and Dumbledore says, "The only one against whom I intend to work is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."

There are only two sides in life; good or evil. You cannot be in the middle. Either you fight evil or you are part of it. This is the most major theme of Harry Potter. The last 3 books are about this division in the magical world. We come to realize what side every one is on, and terror and death return again. Love, family, and the choices they make become ever more important for survival.

Have I mentioned that I love these books?

The best day of my life...

March 31, 2011
Go-karting with The Ready Set and his concert in Salt Lake City

Photos of the race and with Jordan by Justin Claypool
www.justinclaypoolphotography.com
Thank you so much, Justin!

The Ready Set is my favorite singer. He is an amazing person and a great musician. His name is Jordan Witzigreuter and he's 21 years old. I first heard of him in September 2010 and have been a huge fan ever since. His music is well written and very unique, he has a video series on Youtube called "The Ready Setisodes" which are hilarious, and he doesn't smoke, drink, have tattoos, cuss or say anything mean or inappropriate. He has had the same girlfriend for 6 years and has a cat named Wallace who's famous on Twitter. I love his personality, dedication, and style.

I saw him in concert on November 13, 2010 and got to meet him. He came back to Salt Lake on March 31, 2011. My cousin Mitch and I both won a radio contest and got to go go-karting with him before his show. We were each able to bring a guest, so my cousin Parker and friend Linnea came too. It was the most amazing day of my life!

There were 12 other people there. Here we are with The Ready Set. Mitch is behind the flag and Parker is behind his arm. We got pictures and autographs. He signed posters for everyone and I asked him to sign my CD too. He was so nice. He had fatty bruises on his nose and chin. He said he won a foot race, but face planted the pavement.

He brought his drummer and guitarist, Travis and Andy. I've seen them in The Ready Setisodes and was hoping they would come. Travis is my favorite one! He is so funny. Jordan is really shy in person but these two aren't. We had a lot of fun talking to them.

We had to wear these hairnets with our helmets. This is Andy. Travis was upset that they made him put his hair up. They didn't make Jordan.

We were split into 2 groups to race. Mitch didn't make it in this picture. He's in front of Parker, then me, Linnea, and 3 other people. Jordan, Andy, and Travis raced too.

Travis

Mitch and me

Parker with Andy hot on his tail.

Jordan (on the right) passing up Travis. Travis went really slow. It was funny. He said the workers kept telling him to speed up. Afterward, he kept cracking jokes about how bad he did. This one girl didn't race because of back reasons, and Travis said, "That's going to be my excuse." When we asked him to sign our stat sheets, he said, "I'm not signing that!" He did though.

Travis crashed into the wall. I didn't see him and crashed into him. Then Parker ran into me. We were all stuck and waited for that worker to get us going again.

Linnea

Jordan, The Ready Set

I love this picture! It's Jordan and me. I tried passing him for awhile. I didn't want to hit him, so it took awhile to get a clean pass. I wore my black converse because I know it's his style. Sure enough, he wore brown ones.

Mitch

Andy

I was the first to come in at the end and Jordan came in right behind me. I turned around and we gave each other a thumbs up. Then I asked him if it hurt his neck, because it did mine. It took him a minute to hear what I was saying, but then he said he felt fine, it didn't hurt.

We got stat sheets that showed our lap times for each lap. According to lap times, Parker got 1st, me 2nd, Andy 3rd, Mitch 4th, Jordan 5th, Travis 6th, and Linnea 8th. We went into the other room to let the 2nd group go and Andy and Travis came in saying, "Where's Parker?" They said Andy really won because he had one more lap than everyone else. So according to number of laps and lap times, Andy got 1st, Parker 2nd, me 3rd, Mitch 4th, Jordan 5th, Linnea 6th, and Travis 7th, because Linnea had one more lap than Travis. We asked Andy and Travis if they were going to race again and Travis said, "No way! I sucked." I'm so glad we were in the 1st group.

When it was over, we all headed out. They happened to be going the same way as us, so we ended up following them out of the parking lot and down the street. After a few blocks, we split up. They turned right to the freeway and we went left. We were next to them at the traffic light. Travis rolled down his window and yelled, "Is Parker in there?" Then he said, "The next time we race, I'm gonna win!" The light turned green and we split up, but I tweeted him saying, "Parker says bring it on!"

We ate at Sonic and then went up to the concert in the city. We waited in line for maybe 30 minutes before going in. I went straight to the merchandise table and bought the limited edition t-shirt that Jordan designed. He is only selling 10 at each show. I've wanted one since he announced it on Facebook and Twitter. I was so happy that I got one!

The venue was small, not even 100 people. We were in a small room and even at the back of the crowd, we were close to the stage. There were 5 bands before The Ready Set. We missed one at the beginning, but we saw You, Me, and Everyone We Know, We Are The In Crowd, Downtown Fiction, and All-Star Weekend. They were pretty good. The singer for Downtown Fiction was entertaining. He ended up stripping his shirt during the last song.

The Ready Set was amazing! Travis said that Jordan spent hours programing the lights with the songs and he did a great job. He sang an acoustic song, played the piano and drums, and they did this really cool part with big drums. I knew all the songs and sang my heart out (which I'm sure didn't sound too great for those around me). What I admired most is that he didn't cuss. All the bands before him cussed a lot.

Travis is really entertaining to watch. He makes the funniest faces and flings his hair around. Right here, he is puffing out his cheeks.

We got to meet Jordan last time because he hangs out after his shows. At first, he was outside, so we went out. Then he went in and met people by his merchandise table. They wouldn't let us back in, which made me mad. Although we got to see him earlier, I wanted him to sign my shirt and get a picture with it. Mitch took my shirt and snuck back in. He had Jordan sign the back of it for me. I was impressed because they needed to catch a flight that night and he wasn't feeling well, but he still took the time to meet everyone.

We saw Travis outside so we started talking to him. We talked for like 30 minutes! It was so fun and so serial. We chatted away like we were old friends. We talked about Twitter, past shows, the weather they've had this tour (the best being in Salt Lake), future shows and tours, Jordan's goals, music, the other band mates, and their episode of Silent Library on MTV that aired the night before. He told us about a scene of his that they didn't put on the show because he was faking it. I loved that I knew the people and events he was talking about, and it was interesting to get an inside scoop on some things. It was unbelievable how comfortable it was talking to him. We eventually decided we should leave.

Here's all my stuff from the night. I got 3 of Jordan's autographs, and one from Andy and Travis.

The shirt. I love it. This is the theme of The Ready Set. He talks about chasing your dreams a lot. The words are made up of pictures of all the people who have helped him in his career. It's a very meaningful shirt and I feel lucky to have one, because it's very limited.

Our stat sheet signed by Andy and Travis.

I came home that night so happy. It was unbelievable and I will never forget it. I love The Ready Set! His values, personality, humor, and style are amazing. I had so much fun and can't wait to see him again. He'll be back on August 6th for Warped Tour, which we know Travis isn't too excited about. They are very different from all the other bands on the tour, so it will be interesting. I'm excited though and I'm definitely going. I thank Mix 107.9 for giving me the chance of a lifetime.