Philgrim's Blogress » Music and Movies

You’re the Girl I Love

Phil — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 04:46:21 +0000

Since it’s been awhile since I’ve posted a Steve Goodman video, and since I like raw unvarnished folk guitar, and since there are only ten sleeps till I fly to England to join Janet and the girls…

Charlotte’s music

Phil — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:12:14 +0000

Charlotte's self-titled album

I’d call this quality music even if we weren’t related.

But I do prefer the Norwegian spelling of Oline.

This forestry film might be worth checking out

Phil — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:50:12 +0000

I haven’t seen The Green Chain, but if I notice it on a TV listing I’ll probably make a point of watching it, just to see if I agree whether it presents the different viewpoints on the forest industry in a fair way.

(It currently has an average rating of 4.1 out of 10 at imdb.com – that may be because it’s really that bad, or it may be because trying to be balanced just succeeds in making everyone mad)

Vampires fulfulling a spiritual need

Phil — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:08:44 +0000

Right off the top, I should admit that the only vampire movie I’ve ever seen was the old black & white 1931 Dracula movie starring Bela Lugosi.

I found it entertaining, in a creepy/campy way.

But I don’t fully understand why so many teenage girls, and women of all ages, are going ga-ga over those Twilight movies about chaste teen heartthrob blood suckers. Robert Pattinson’s abs might be more sculpted than Bela Lugosi’s, but his fangs aren’t nearly as impressive.

However I was interested to come across an article in Touchstone Magazine which claims that the stories fulfil a spiritual void:

… the reason these books are so popular: They meet a spiritual need. Mircea Eliade, in his book The Sacred and the Profane, suggests that popular entertainment, especially imaginative literature and film, serves a religious or mythic function in a secular culture. When God is driven to the periphery of the public square, the human spiritual capacity longs for exercise, and it often finds it in the “suspension of disbelief” and activity of the imagination that are available in novels and movies.

The books and films that satisfy this spiritual longing most profoundly are the ones that have religious content of some kind, sometimes any kind. Not just The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia but also Harry Potter and The Matrix contain symbolism and religious notes that resonate with readers and moviegoers.

Which brings us to Twilight. These Gothic romances featuring atypical vampires and werewolf champions are allegories about the love relationship between God and Man. They are, in fact, a re-telling of the Garden of Eden drama—with a Mormon twist. Here, the Fall is a good thing, even the key to salvation and divinization, just as Joseph Smith, Jr., the Latter-day Saint prophet, said it was. Twilight conveys the appealing message that the surest means to God are sex and marriage.

…

Read the full article Mormon Vampires in the Garden of Eden here.

City of New Orleans – by the guy who wrote it

Phil — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:55:54 +0000

If you are over 40, chances are that you remember Arlo Guthrie’s version of City of New Orleans. But if you want to hear it the way it was meant to be done, take the time to watch Steve Goodman perform it, accompanied by mandolin virtuoso Jethro Burns.

Makes me want to go for a train ride.

Reborn

Phil — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:27:19 +0000

I stumbled across a website called Jesus Rock Legends, and browsing through the entries, came across the entry for The Talbot Brothers “Reborn” album. I have ethical problems with downloading copyrighted music for free, but apparently it isn’t available on CD, and I do have it on an old LP that I haven’t listened to in years, so I went ahead and downloaded the zipped MP3s from the link above, and am enjoying my blast from the past.

The Talbot brothers had previously been with the band Mason Proffit, which is said to have influenced country rock bands of the 1970s including the Eagles. Both John Michael Talbot and Terry Talbot put out what I consider some decent solo albums, but I still prefer this album.

The song Easy to Slip is on YouTube (only visual is the album cover).

Real Soggy Bottom Boys (and Alison Krauss)

Phil — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:04:55 +0000

Yes Marc, you are correct.

The Deep Dark Woods

Phil — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:03:06 +0000

Hey I really like this Saskatoon-based band. I like their folk-roots sound, I admire their facial hair, and I respect them for doing a video dressed in their long johns.

More Deep Dark Woods here.

I am a man of constant sorrow

Phil — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:28:32 +0000

There are a lot of versions of this song, but I really like the version by the Soggy Bottom Boys, from the soundrack of O Brother Where Art Thou.

Fire on the mountain and more CKUA

Phil — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:38:22 +0000

Last week I drove to Edmonton for a couple of days of meetings, and as usual, I kept my radio tuned to CKUA for the entire time I was in Alberta. Sometime before hitting the border I was able to bring in 580 on the AM dial, and sometime before Vegreville I switched to 94.9 FM.

On Thursday evening as I approached Lloydminster with the bluegrass show Fire on the Mountain playing, and my foot keeping time on the floorboard (my left foot – not the one on the gas pedal), I realized how much I wish Saskatchewan had a similar station. CBC Radio 2 comes closest, with its mix of programs, but for me it doesn’t measure up to the eclectic mix on CKUA; perhaps it’s because of CKUA’s “listener-supported”, “community-based” mandate.

At least when I’m at my computer I can listen to them online, when I actually remember to.