Ring in 2008

art by Jan Neal

In Four Steps to Wisdom:
You don't have to do anything to acquire happiness. The great Meister Eckhart said very beautifully, "God is not attained by a process of addition to anything in the soul, but by a process of subtraction." You don't do anything to be free, you drop something. Then you're free.
Jan quoting Anthony de Mello quoting Meister Eckhart

" "

And you, liar, teller of tall tales: you trample all the Lord's commandments underfoot, you murder, steal, commit adultery, and afterward break into tears, beat your breast, take down your guitar and turn the sin into a song. Shrewd devil, you know very well that God pardons singers no matter what they do, because he can simply die for a song....

~The Last Temptation of Christ,
Nikos Kaztantazkis

For the Youngsters

Yellow by Coldplay

Fundamentalist Trials

George of The Hour (CBC trying to be hip) recently interviewed AJ Jacobs, a New Yorker who spent a year living according to the tenets of the Bible. While I have often questioned fundamentalists on the convenient compromises they make to suit their lives while claiming to live biblically, I loved hearing about the Jewish embodiment of this quandry. Of particular note was the anecdote about him stoning an adulterer. You gotta love this guy's tenacity. And his wife's for that matter: he was not allowed to sit on a chair sat upon by his wife while she was 'unclean', so she went around the apartment and defiled every last one of them! Ah, the trials of living like our forefathers.... But on a more serious note, his book does address questions about the development of one's prayer life, and the issue of 'cafeteria religion'--picking and choosing what suits us in our faith.

You may know him from his articles and other adventures such as reading all 44 million words of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Here is an excerpt from his website : 'His father is a lawyer who holds the world record for the most footnotes in a law review article (4,824). His wife works for a highbrow scavenger hunt called Watson Adventures. He lives in New York. He wonders if he fooled anyone with this third-person thing, or if everyone knows that he wrote this bio himself.'

Hero of the Week

Ok, so it's not weekly. But I would like to sing the praises of a gentleman who has done me favours and who serves the Christian art scene in Canada with unrelenting passion, energy and support: the very humble John Franklin, executive director of Imago. This organization provides financial, logistical and promotional support to Christian creators of the performing and visual arts. I love it because I constantly find new good Christ-centred art through them, particularly at their Imago Evenings. Imago busts the myth of 'good' and 'Christian art' being oxymoronic terms. And John's quarterly newsletter is a source of theological reflection on new works and issues in art, as well as book reviews, calls for artists and show announcements. To support this very worthy organization, go to their website and use the contact us link at the bottom; I guarantee you your donation will be VERY well used.

Next Jazz Vespers

january 6th is the next jazz vespers at ccdp (1570 yonge st) at 4:30pm. the canadian jazz quartet plays a tribute to milt jackson. come join me in chilling in the pew.

Upcoming Movie Recoms

This year will see recoms for more offbeat, artsy and inde movies. I have a wonderful source, and a Board that always brings new ideas for me to try. So ck back for the popcorn and spilled coke ratings. I recently saw The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988, Terry Gilliam) and wondered how I managed to miss yet another interesting flick. It is completely insane. Note that this does not mean perfect; I am not saying it is the best movie on the planet, but I am always appreciative of artists willing to at least do what they need to do, and in the process not bore me. If you want to ck out the cultness of it, go rent it. I don't think you'll ask me for your money back.

Gross Out for the Kids

Gags for the adults, guffaws for the kids. Here is a link to a recipe that is usually for Hallowe'en, but it is where I am metaphorically dumping 2007. This coming year is looking good, however....

Merry Christmas from Beautiful Feet

Advent IV

Advent IV

On the Cusp of Christmas

This fourth Sunday of Advent we light all the candles of the wreath and mark Love incarnate, birthed by Mary.

O Wisdom, holy Word of God, Jesus Christ, all things are in your hands, come and show us the way to salvation.

This is my favourite season of the year: it's about reflection, intensity and delayed gratification. I almost find Christmas too much. It goes against my asceticism, and the peace of Advent is lost. Ah well, I can start counting the days til the beginning of Lent...

And my last plug for Buy Nothing Christmas:

Back in the Christmas season....

We Will Rock You, the musical

I was recently treated to We Will Rock You, the musical by Queen and Ben Elton. Guess I am stunned, coz I misunderstood what the show was; I thought it was a tribute band. However, I was quickly corrected but then relieved of new doubts. It is actually a storyline that initially is questionable, but you are quickly sucked into the 'world' therein and get into it. While the singing and choreography is good, I would say the writing is the most fun--very clever and very topical. There was one moment, however, where a character gets the equivalent of tasing and you could cut the tension in the hall with a knife. We attended a night with the understudies who were actually better than the main cast members, according to someone who went twice: Breanne Arrigo was endearingly feisty as Scaramouche, and Jewelle Blackman as Killer Queen was reminiscent of Tina Turner. The background multimedia visuals were absolutely fantastic, perhaps my favourite part of the show. There was a poignant nod to Freddie Mercury, a too-short video clip of Queen and tons of good-natured fun-poking at the group. Just completely good fun from start to finish: if you like Queen, you absolutely MUST go see this. You will indeed be rocked. (Even I, with my usual wasp-y reservation, let loose, so you know it must be good.) www.mirvish.com

Segue...

If you want a giggle, check out this one of several videos of prison inmates in the Philippines in which they dance en masse to popular music--a new type of rehab for Corrections Canada to try??? I really don't get this and that's what fascinates me. This one is to Queen's Radio Ga Ga . There's also a really weird version of (what else) Thriller. Beats carving shanks, I guess.

from "The Nativity of our Lord"

Then tear the sky apart with light

And with your news the world endow.

Proclaim the birth of Christ and peace,

That fear and death and sorrow cease:

Sing peace, sing gift of peace!

~Carl Schalk

Welcome to Advent III

We're almost there! It's the third Sunday of Advent, often known and celebrated as Gaudete Sunday, wherein we light the pink candle. Joy is the theme and we read about the pronouncement of Jesus by John the Baptist as the Lamb of God (John 1: 19-34).

O Key of David, Jesus Christ, the gates of heaven open at your command; come and show us the way to salvation.

And I offer this advice, with personal endorsement:

Flying Bow

My best discovery this week was Trevor Dick and the 5th String Blvd Band; our mc told us, as he introduced them, to fasten our seat belts, and he was right! I was not convinced that I would be enamoured of yet more versions of Christmas carols, but this guy rocks. He had great audience rapport too. He reminded me of a cross between Jean Luc Ponty and Oliver Schroer. I have to say I prefer the raucous carol disc over the more low key carols in his double cd, Glory and Peace, but he is a breath of fresh air. Laila Biali was a guest performer, so that was a treat as well. Check out some mp3 clips of Trevor's at http://flyingbow.com/g&pclips.htm and put those boring old Christmas cds you have away!

Sound Art

I generally have little time for Performance Art as a genre, but this week I had the opportunity to watch sound art unfold. I admit I was rather skeptical initially, but the work of the artist sold me on this medium. At a concert by Trevor Dick, as mentioned above, Tina Newlove created a painting which, had I been able, I would have bought. You can see her stuff on her website www.tinanewlove.com and also follow the link there to her myspace site. I quite like her urban crowd stuff. One of the works, City Crowd, reminded me of Klimt. If you ever have the chance to watch her, stick around to the end. It's worth it.

Movie Night Recoms

I was watching Marie Antoinette recently, thinking 'This soundtrack reminds me of the one in Lost in Translation'; sure enough (I had popped the dvd in without much study), it was another Sofia Coppola film (2006). Definitely not for my mother's crowd; she would have a fit at what had be "done" to this quirky period piece. It had been recommended to me precisely because its focus was the visuals rather than plot. Like Translation (2003), Coppola used the technique of dampened audio, which has various effects on the audience. Also lost to the traditionalists would be the use of current American accents and vernacular language, mixed in with the sensibilities and expression of the time. A completely cool film. But I love anything different; there is no room or time for boredom. Half a box of popcorn to my next recom, 49Up (2006), which I used in my continued study of the series in my classes. My students and I felt there had not been substantial change from 42Up, so while it was a wonderful film in and of itself, the series does seem to be lacking momentum. What was so eagerly awaited seemed a bit flat. I wonder if director Michael Apted will pursue this longitudinal study and how many of the participants will continue with the project. So, definitely worth watching for its sociological importance, but don't expect the shake ups encountered between, for example, 35Up and 42Up. I plan to watch the director's interview to hear his views.

Kids' Stuff

Two things for kids this week:

I was referred to a group called the Go Fish Guys, and they have some worthy music for children that goes beyond the usual potty-training and monsters subjects. You can check out various things on their site at http://www.gofishguys.com/guys/index.html but one song I liked was It's About the Cross which you can find on their index of sample mp3 clips along with other Christmas songs: http://www.gofishguys.com/music/index.html . I like the fact that they don't dumb things down for kids.

Also of note is a hot-off-the-press book (I was at a launch by the author) which I bought as a Christmas present for certain young people I know (can't ruin the surprise here): Jim's Grandiose Big Bible Picture Book. What is different about this one is that it is witty (yay! something unboring about the Bible for kids!) and it has a pretty cool, age-appropriate key at the back about symbols and references. A good stepping stone for the 8-12 age group in terms of Bible acquisitions. Good fun. You can find out more about Jim Paterson's book and order it via www.jdpaterson.com or bga@spectranet.ca .

Another Kind of Good News

As we enter the season of Good News, it is fitting that I found this website: www.goodnewsnetwork.org on which only positive new stories are found. Now many will counsel you not to take a media fast, especially as Christians, because we should not turn a blind eye to suffering and should continually pray for those who need it. I believe that is true. However, if one must read the regular news (which is 99% bad), I think it is balanced to look at this good news source. I love it.

Blogger's--not My--Bad

Just noticed that Blogger has inserted automatically a new Video Bar which usurped my YouTube Beauts. Somehow, some weird video was attached and as yet I have been unable to remove it from the html. Please ignore that one ('sweet rose' something or other) and do not think that it has any connection to me. Thank you!