Google Maps
1. Go to google.com
2. Click on maps
3. Click on get directions
4. From: New York, New York…To: Paris, France.
5. Read line #23
6. Laugh, and repost
Made my day.
Counting the days…
…21 to be exact, until the release of Derek Webb’s new album, The Ringing Bell. But doing just enough to torture (just a little) and tease (a great deal) is a site set up to not only hear the entire thing, but to see the book that’s packaged with it.
The music is a completely new direction for Webb and I’m giddy like a school girl. This album rocks.
That Old Time Classical Music…
I’m exhausted.
Not my body, but my voice. For the last eight weeks I’ve been rehearsing with the Axtell Oratorio Society. This is the 50th year this group has performed Handel’s complete Messiah, and that’s a pretty big deal for a town about about 700. The society now consists of more than just people from the town of Axtell, and quite a few people from surrounding towns such as Minden and Kearney make the trip to Axtell on Sunday for rehearsals. Kearney just built a new performing arts center(pictured below), so it seems fitting to move the performance from the Kearney high school to the new center, especially for the celebration. The performance is this weekend and I’m excited to see how it will all come together.
I haven’t been in a choir since college and worship leading is hardly conducive to keeping my high register in shape, so I was a bit rusty. But something in me still loves the stuffy ole’ traditional choral music. And there is also something all together separate about being part of a musical organization that’s as old as this one:arrogance, elitism, humilty and love of music all rolled into one place. It’s a lot for a newbie like me to take in. Music people are weird, my mother always says. And meeting all these new people proved her right. We are weird… in an entirely weird and different way.
In the end of this whole experience I will take with me a hatred of the runs in For Unto Us a Child is Born (seriously, was Handel a masochistic when he wrote that?) and a love for the significance of the word “Amen”. I’d forgotten the joy that comes with performing difficult classical music and as a kid, I’d always wanted to be part of it this event. I finally made time this year.
My favorite? Worthy is the Lamb/Amen Finale. It’s by far the most satisfying song to sing. Musically, though, my favorite moment is in O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion – the word painting on “Arise” and “Behold” is a stunning and wonderful to sing.
Enough gushing; I have rehearsing to do. I don’t want sloppy phrasing on the 50th anniversary of this thing!
Stranger Than Fiction
Stranger Than Fiction is fun and quirky with a little bit of heart and a little bit of strangeness.
But hey, I like quirky.
Will Ferrell and Maggie Gyllenhaal are an unlikely on screen pairing but I was completely won over by their bizarre scene where the “meet cute” plays out.
Some critics criticized the movie for having the wrong ending. I completely disagree. Yes, ending it the way they did made it more “typical Hollywood” but it also allowed for you to remember that selfishness can only be conquered by unselfishness. Which is a lesson everyone needs to be reminded of. This is a movie definitely worth renting.
A New Focus
I’ve been knocked out this week with a pretty bad cold, but that didn’t keep me from the Colbert Report last night.
http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/syndicated_player/index.jhtml
Rich Cizik was recently appointed to the office of Vice President for Governmental Affairs with the National Association of Evangelicals. And after doing some reading, I’m excited to see what this guy is going to do to the NAE, an organization that has so much influence it’s a little frightening.
As Colbert mentioned above, Cizik has a different focus from the main dominate issues Evangelicals have been so coal about these last 20 years or so. As his shifting focus in the right direction, I think, namely to “green-friendly” living. As an employee of a lighting company, I’ve been hearing this buzz term for a while. In fact, I just finished the design on a “green-friendly” lighting catalog we are marketing to California customers, who now have stricter state regulations on the type of lighting they can use. (And make sure to pick up the most recent copy of Relevant magazine; it has a quick and simple article on going green in a month. It’s a great read.)
Some of the more conservative and outspoken evangelicals have come out against Cizik for not putting issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and abstinence to the forefront. Because the evangelical culture has done such a “bang-up job” bringing about great moral changes in these areas, by all means, let’s continue to point fingers in judgment and talk, talk, talk about these issues instead of actually doing something. *removes tongue from cheek*
This is the problem I have with being labeled a Christians. The mouth-pieces we’ve allowed to become our representative have simply done a very poor job of showing who we are, but they’ve also failed to represent who we should be. The NEA is taking a step in the right direction in appointing Cizick, whose views on global warming are refreshing and nearly unheard of among the power Christian-Right. He also has some interesting things to say about Christians and political parties here. Here’s to hoping this focus stays up front.
Stephanie Nelson 