The perfect Western: 

Not a wasted line or scene 

Complex characters

Meryl is really 

unbelievable; Kevin

Kline is a genius.

Classic cinema,

Choreographic standard.

Music trumps story.

Beginning's like end;

Homage to classic Western:

incredibly sad.

An extended chase; 

template for Bourne-like movies;

great camera angles.

neo-noir movie:

deliberately paced, smoky

and ambiguous. 

17 syllables

I have not seen many classic movies. My wife, a veritable movie-connoisseur, laughs at my lack of basic movie knowledge. "Who is Carey Grant?" I may ask. 

So I have decided, on the advice of a friend, to start watching AFI's (self-admittedly imperfect) top 100 movies of all time voted on by 1500 directors and critics. Josie loves movies, so she is game. 

I am starting at the bottom of the list in order to see why the top ten is the top ten. Also, I am paying attention to directors on the advice of the same friend, because they are the true shot-callers and visionaries of the films. 

And then I am going to pretend that you care about my opinion on each film by posting a brief review on this blog. I am calling this new series "17 syllables" because each review will be comprised of 17 syllables (of Haiku fame). 

Below is my first review: Blade Runner

First review of U2's new album

Looking good...

Turns out my recent interest in comic books is not idiosyncratic either. Just came across this article in USA Today, stating that comic book sales were up 5% this year. This does not surprise me, and it has something to do with the resurgence in vinyl: people crave the tactile. That is my thesis. In this digital age, where everything is intangible and reduced to 1's and 0's, people grow weary and feel less human. Because no matter how hard to try to suppress it, we are not digital people. We are analog. We are not either/or. We are not neat and clean. We are not non-physical. 

So back to comics, and why they are popular: To start, they tell a story. They reflect society's deepest longings for a "hero." And also reflect the characteristics of this cultural hero (in the corpulent 80's we were cynically applauding the anti-hero; Now we see a recovery of the classic "just" hero as we face hardship). 

And comics are tactile: you hold the art-work in your hand, you flip the page, you smell the new print. Comics are selling because in this digital age, people crave the tactile. 

quiet is loud

Joao Gilberto is brilliant. If you doubt it, try it for yourself.

Bono is now an op-ed columnist for NY Times

Here is his first piece. 

I am not as cool as I think I am

Turns out my recent interest in vinyl records is not idiosyncratic and unique: records sales are up 89 percent in 2008 from 2007. Rolling Stone has this great piece on the surge of vinyl in this digital age. It reads what I have been saying for the past few years: People who are downloading digital 1's & 0's with no album artwork and less audio quality that the compact disc are finally asking why. Vinyl offers beautiful album art, increased audio quality, and a digger's (those bad smelling, greasy haired fellas that spend 4 hours in a used record store "digging" through piles of records to find that one gem) dream because the Boomer's are all dumping their pristine vinyl collections at used book stores because they finally figured out how to use their iPod. 

Back to me feeling less unique. One of my Christmas gifts was a gift card to this fantastic record shop in Cincinnati. I walked away with some terrific stuff, but it turns out that Neutral Milk Hotel's absolutely seminal album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and Radiohead's OK Computer were the top selling records of 2008. I am not alone. Oh well. 

Here are my newest additions:

Study-break insight #3

1) There is an inverse relationship between income spent and enjoyment of your possessions.

a) You will read your favorite book multiple times.

b) You will listen to your favorite record more than 12 times.

c) You will cherish simple conversation.

Study-break insight #2

1) Orthodoxy is like good technique in swimming (or any sport, for that matter).

a) Without it you will get injured, seriously strain a muscle, or at worst: drown.

b) With it you will grow stronger, utilize your energy properly, and enjoy the pool.

c) It makes no sense without a pool and constant practice (orthopraxy, it's been called).

Study-break insight #1

1) Introverts go the coffee shop; extroverts go to the bar.

a) The coffee shop provides community, which satisfies the introvert's longing to be known. But the coffee shop prohibits conversation, which satisfies the introvert's longing to be alone.

b) The bar provides community, which satisfies the extrovert's longing to be known. But the bar requires conversation, which satiates the extrovert's fear of being alone.

The best albums of 2008 that I have not heard

Don't miss M. Ward on his tour!

February 23 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah
February 24 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
February 25 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
February 27 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
March 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
March 18 - Washington, DC @ The Black Cat
March 19 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
March 20 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
March 21 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
March 22 - St. Louis, MO @ Duck Room
March 24 - Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
March 25 - Chicago, IL @ Logan Square
March 26 - Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room
March 27 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
March 28 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Andy Warhol Museum

Coldplay v. Joe Satriani

Apparently Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay for bumming the main riff of his song "If I Could Fly" for their smash hit "Viva la Vida." Personally I think Satriani is in for it, there are only so many options in the 12 tone music scale, and Coldplay has an army of lawyers.
You decide:

I saw this incredible show last night

They are called Alash ensemble, and they are from Tuva -- which is just north of Mongolia. Their culture over the centuries has developed a folk-singing tradition called throat singing, in which they can create multiple tones with their voice. One voice, multiple tones--I know, it doesn't add up. It is crazy! They best way i can describe it is a human bagpipe, because there is a sustained drone in the back of their throat, and then they manipulate the air with their mouth to create high-pitched notes. And then, to top it off, they create different rhythms--it is poly-phonic and poly-rhythmic with one voice box.

Odetta dies at 77

Married to the sea: "the champagne of comics"

These guys are brilliant!

Some thoughts from a former church-plant launch team member: Axl Rose

Axl Rose's new album is out. So here is a throwback toast to him and Kurt Loader. However, his thoughts on religion are really insightful: 1) he demonstrates how spiritually bankrupt churches become when they are driven by man-made rules. Here are some words from Jerram Barrs on this point:

 "In reaction to...pressures from the ‘world’ Christians search for safety for ourselves, for our children, for our young people, and we are promised this safety if we turn to authority (the chain of command) and to rules for godly living - rules that have as their intention keeping us and our young people apart from the world – this replaces the central theme of the ‘story’ of God reaching out to draw the nations to himself by forgiving their sins and showing mercy with separation and purity as we define it.

2) He demonstrates how ugly a church can become when it forgets about "true religion" which responding to grace and living out of that grace in love towards other people. Again Jerrams words help:

True religion – in which we live out of and in response to grace - can be replaced by moralism – in which we do things for God and seek to prove to him, to ourselves and to each other how righteous and zealous we are in the Lord’s service...The Gospel of grace and mercy towards sinners loses out to the moral offerings and sacrifices we make to the Lord [e.g. Burning our Guns and Roses records publicly] - like Judaism was at the time of Christ - instead of living by the grace of God we seek to live by our moral effort. Paul addresses this issue with great power in Romans - we substitute the genuine Gospel for a religion of the written code - this will degenerate very rapidly into legalism because we will inevitably start adding to God's commandments.

3) He teaches us that legalism issues into pride or despair. In the case of Axl, he gave up and despaired in view of hypocracy. Others, who are good and the religion game, take it on and stay in the church because it is a source of pride and power. Again, in Jerram's words:

This brings us to one of the fatal flaws of the rules we design for righteousness and godliness. Such devotion to our rules develops pride, because human rules can indeed be kept, so this means that Lord is kept at a distance. We perform what we have required of ourselves and then take pride in our performance... But, if we become proud of anything, we lose the way no matter how good the thing is that makes us proud of ourselves. If we substitute human laws for God's laws then we can keep them and pride will naturally follow. God's law is not easy and was not designed to be so, for it reflects His own glorious holiness. But, we must not let ourselves substitute human laws for his Law, for the effect of this substitution is to keep Christ at a distance and to put our faith in our efforts and laws. One of the attractions of legalism is that we can actually do much of what we require of ourselves. Legalism enables us to feel good about ourselves and that we are doing just fine, becoming a mature Christian and growing (so we think), but it actually hides us from what is truly good and right. It creates pride - all legalism creates the mentality that ‘we see and understand and that we have what it takes’. Scripture says that whenever we think that way we deceive ourselves (James 4:6; 1 Corinthians 8:1). Self-righteousness does not draw the unbeliever.

4) Axl teaches us that legalism may burn bright at first--"we were united at first"--but it eventually tailspins into poisonous judgmentalism. 

5) Axl shows us that legalism fosters rebellion, because if you do not measure up and see the emptiness of other's prideful behavior, you lose hope. 

6) Axl demonstrates the rules-based churches repel unbelievers because the whole functionality of the church is based on performance. Many people reject Christianity for this reason--they don't want to sign up for a "do good" club. They know full well that they can't "do good" and have already had enough experience being shunned for failing to do good. 

But this is not really Christianity, for Christianity is ultimately founded on what Christ has done. The church points to a historical fact: Jesus lived the life you should have lived, and died the death you should have died. There is no space for pride and judgmentalism in this equation, because our acceptance before God and others and ourself is based on another. We are set free by grace, and then our hearts begin to choose to become more truly human, more in line with God's own character--which is brilliantly reflected in His law: "God's Law is a marvelous gift, which promises freedom, blessing and life to us as we commit ourselves to obey it out of love for Christ and in humble dependence on the Spirit. In contrast the legalism of human rules which so often plagues the people of God brings bondage, immaturity and rebellion to our homes, churches, schools and youth ministries."

Wilcobama

The men of Wilco have never been this dressed up: check out the collars, on every single one of 'em!

Not every aging rock band is like the Rolling Stones

Devo, I kind of feel bad for you.