I know a lot about contemporary Christian music (CCM) and a pretty good amount about the history of CCM/ Jesus Music. Bob Ayala was a CCM Pioneer. While these first two sentences are correct, I just heard about Ayala today.
I am in a number of FB CCM groups and someone mentioned his 1976 debut album Joy By Surprise. Spotify is my go to for finding music like this but they only had one Bob Ayala album or Bob Ayalbum if you will, and it wasn't Joy By Surprise. I was able to find it on You Tube and have shared it below. My plan is to listen to it now and give you a quick as I'm hearing it review.
The album is about 33 minutes long and has 10 songs. Joy By Surprise begins with Stephanie, With Love which is a nice consoling song about a girl who loved and lost.
The next song Do You Know Him? starts with a description of God "He is a poet in the wind a sculptor of the sky line. "
Nice guitar work and some good front ground la la las which are very typical of this time frame.
Try And Keep The Pace
Opening lyrics: You were always haunted by the girl you hated standing in your mirror. The little I read about Ayala stated a couple Keith Greenesque qualities. These qualities are on full display in this song. This song also reminds me of more positive less satire look at the issues Randy Stonehill explored in cosmetic fixation and Barbie nation.
To The Ancient of Days seems to be the most famous song from this album according to notes on the FB page and the You Tube comments. One commenter stated he could not listen to it with out thinking of Narnia, this is not too difficult for an album whose cover art is the singer encountering Aslan. These songs are quick but they have good production value and I can imagine listening to them again and again,
Peace is the next song and starts with the sounds of the outdoors at night. The lyrics continue that theme with a nice guitar accompaniment. The person who shared this album on You Tube stated "that the music drifts further to the middle of the road than one would like". Speaking for myself, this one likes the middle of the road just fine.
1/2 way through the album as we pause to turn the record over I'll say that so far I like it. The songs are quick but they have good production value and I can imagine listening to them again and again.
I enjoyed Silent Witness, which seems to be a love song from an unbelieving husband to his believing wife. There was a really good lyric in the beginning that I couldn't write down quick enough. I look forward to hearing it again on a subsequent listen.
Joy By Surprise, the title track has a Don Francisco country twang to it which I quite enjoyed. The lyrics also reminded me of C.S. Lewis a) because Lewis's autobiography is called Surprised by Joy and b) since some of the lyrics talk about scales being removed which is so very Eustace Clarence Scrubb.
The Song of Joseph is next and while there are many Joseph's in the Bible, This one is definitely about Mary's husband. I found it the most uneven of the songs I've heard so far. Of course this is just one listen in, and often songs have a way of surprising me after multiple hearings.
Lord is the penultimate song on this collection. Where Joseph's song is an Advent song, Lord, is a Good Friday song. The music is slow and sad and helps you imagine Jesus carrying his cross on the way to Calvary. If it wasn't obvious before that this was a1970's album this song brings that idea home with an sledge hammer masquerading as an exclamation point.
To end an album with a song called New Beginnings is kind of different. It's a good song and is very Michael Cardish with the vocals and the orchestration.
A couple of final vinyl thoughts that I'd like to spin. I recognized the names of a couple musicians on the album. First there is Billy Batstone who wears lots of hats, singer, songwriter, worship leader, bassist, guitarist and of course becomes Captain Marvel when he say Shazam. Then I read about the drummer Al McDougal and I was thinking that name sounds very familiar. Then I realized it was probably Alex MacDougal who used to drum for Daniel Amos. Sure enough he has is credited in Discogs for his work on this album.
I like this album and kind of want to finish this review quickly so I can listen to it again. One of the blogs I read mentioned him in early 2020 as still being alive. Apparently in the Fall of that year he passed away while visiting his sister perhaps due to some vertigo issues he had been experiencing. It was kind of strangely sad discovering he died nearly 5 years prior to my discovery of him. In a sense I wish I discovered his music earlier, but in another way it's kind of nice to discover old music that's new to you.
The second new (to me) film I watched this year was the 2000 Disney animated comedy film, The Emperor's New Groove.
As in the last review, I will attempt to do the following:
Rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
Provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie.
I will share 1 theme from the movie.
Write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie.
State who I think would make the best audience for this movie.
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) Rating 4 stars out of 5
Summary: A young selfish Peruvian emperor Kuzco, (voiced by David Spade) is accidentally transformed into a llama by his wicked advisor in a failed assassination attempt. The Tribal leader, Pacha (voiced by John Goodman) that Kuzco is trying to usurp land from begrudgingly tries to restore Kuzco back into himself. Over the course of their arduous journey, the emperor begins to see himself in a new light.
Theme: One theme of the movie is the difficulties involved in putting others needs ahead of your own.
Likes: The emperor's new groove is an extremely funny movie. The humor is both character driven and through it's over the top ridiculousness and frenetic pace.
Dislikes: The plot of the movie sometimes suffers from the slapstick nature of the film. I think repeat viewing may place more emphasis on the emotional unevenness of the plot.
A Good Audience for this Film: People who like their Disney animated movies with less musical interludes, fans of Shrek, David Spade, and fast paced romps should enjoy this movie.
2025 New To Me Film Update
I have watched and reviewed 2 films:
Films released from 2009 to 2024 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1994 to 2008 Watched 1 Remaining 1
Films released from 1979 to 1993 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1964 to 1978 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1949 to 1963 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released before 1934 and up to 1948 Watched 1 Remaining 1
My Daughter Lucy and I watched this film at the local movie theatre that we work at. It was part of an Employee appreciation party. Watching it in a theatre setting with our co-workers was very enjoyable.
The first New (to me) film I watched this year is the 1934 film, Silver Streak.
In each brief review, I will attempt to do the following.
I will rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
I will provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie.
I will share 1 theme from the movie.
I will write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie.
I will say who I think would make the best audience for this movie.
Silver Streak (1934) Rating 3 stars out of 5
Summary: A young train designer challenges the train industry by proposing a new streamlined diesel capable of high speed travel. When his girlfriends father, a railroad executive, doesn't approve his designs, he quite his job and convinces another manufacture to produce his train. The completed train must race against time to deliver medical equipment that can stop a polio outbreak and save the life of his girlfriends brother.
Theme: One theme of the movie is the the resistance some have to changing technology.
Likes and dislikes:I watched this film with my wife Amy a few weeks ago and we both really enjoyed it. Here is specifically why.
Me: One thing I liked about the movie is how the train that the Silver Streak is based on The Burlington Zephyr, is the real star of the film and is even given a screen credit.
Amy: The acting was first rate. You believed that the actors were the characters they were portraying.
Dave: One thing I didn't like was that the spy subplot seemed contrived.
Amy: I agree, I know they have to create conflict and tension, but the fight on the train was too much.
A Good Audience for this Film: Adventurers, Train Buffs, and Obscure Train Movie aficionados.
Sally Blane and WIlliam Farnum
By Burlington Route (railroad) This appears to have been given to those at the fair who toured the train on exhibit. - eBay itemcard frontcard back, Public Domain, Link
Now that this review is over let's look at my progress so far this year. At this point, I have watched and reviewed 1 film.
Films released from 2009 to 2024 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1994 to 2008 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1979 to 1993 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1964 to 1978 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released from 1949 to 1963 Watched 0 Remaining 2
Films released before 1934 and up to 1948 Watched 1 Remaining 1
Amy and I watched this film on You Tube and you can too. I proudly present Silver Streak ...
There is a lot of Charlie Brown in me. My middle name is Charles, I had a dog named Snoopy when I was a kid, my love for baseball has always exceeded my ability to play it well, and like the storied definition of insanity, I often do the same thing and expect different results
This is particularly true regarding my annual plan to watch 12 movies I've never seen before and post the reviews here. The way it works is supposed to work is each year, I choose 12 films I haven't seen or haven't seen in their entirety, watch them, and then write a quick review and post here. I also add a few wrinkles to the plan:
1. The movies have to come out no earlier than the year before the challenge. In this case 2024.
2. Although this is not a hard and fast rule, I generally do not count movies I watched in their original theatrical run if they came out the year prior. For example. I watched A Complete Unknown tonight at the theatre where I work. Technically, it was released in 2024 and I watched it in 2025 so it could count, but since it hasn't left my theatre yet I'm going with the spirit of the law and not counting it. If I had not watched it today and then watched it on DVD or streaming in a few months after its theatrical run ended I would certainly count it.
3. I divide the movies into 6 sections by years released. This year the sections are:
Films released from 2009 to 2024
Films released from 1994 to 2008
Films released from 1979 to 1993
Films released from 1964 to 1978
Films released from 1949 to 1963
Films released before 1934 and up to 1948
4. Since I'm trying to watch 12 films, I choose 2 films from each section.
This year I have already watched 2 films but have yet to review them. This is where I usually get into trouble because until I review them and post them and have documentation of them, it is easy to lose track of what I've already seen. In one of the first posts I did this year I mentioned the
1976 Gene Wilder , Richard Pryor movie, Silver Streak. In preparing that post, I discovered that there was also a 1935 film with the same name. I have since watched that film and hope to post a review here before the end of the month.
The other "new" film I saw was at a staff party for the movie theatre I work at. After all the last runs of movies in the theatre had begun they had a special showing of cartoons, and tow feature length movies. the first film they showed, I had seen parts if but never in it's entirety, so I counted it as new to me. I hope to reveal the name of that film, and a review sometime in February.
Until then I see a girl holding a football for me, and I'm off to kick it.
The past coupla Saturdays I've tried and failed to put out a Team Saturdazzle post. The truth is my Fridays have been frenzied lately and my Saturdays have been swamped. The phrase 20 pounds in a 5-pound bag aptly describes them. My best friend noticed yesterday that yesterday at least until mid to late afternoon was anything but dazzling and told me to stop what I was doing, go home, and spend a quiet evening with my wife. This worked out well for my best friend and my wife as they are the same person.
So I went home, and we watched a movie together. The Movie was the 1938 Film: You Can't Take It With You. I have blogged about it before here, as the Y entry in "A Month at the Movies" from the 2023 A to Z challenge.
It did Saturdazzle my weekend right up. So much so, that I am taking some time on a Sunday to breathe a little and blog a little. In the A to Z post, I shared the below YouTube video which is a good synopsis and review of the movie.
In many of the Special Ed classes I sub in they have what is called Fun Friday, an enjoyable activity in the last couple of periods of the day. Often this is a kids movie. In February the class I was subbing for watched Sing, an animated film from 2016. Because of my previous job at a local movie theatre, I had seen quite a bit of it's 2023 sequel Sing II. But since I didn't work there until 2019 and did not end up taking my own children to it, I had never seen the original.
Matthew McConaughey at the premiere of Sing. 2016 Toronto Film Festival ,
A Stagecoach West bus leaving Gloucester bus station on route 30 to Coleford. It is a Scania N230UD with Alexander Enviro400 body, registration mark MX08 GHY, fleet number 15451.
I would give Sing a rating somewhere between 2.75 and 3.25 stars. Matthew McConaughey lends his voice to theatrical producer Buster Moon who is in fact a koala bear, (All of the characters are animals) in this film which is part Zootopia and part High School Musical. Moon's theatre is about to be repossessed by the bank, and he needs to put a successful show to avoid losing the theatre. He decides to put on a singing contest, and the rest of the film centers on the contestants and Moon reevaluating and achieving their dreams. Taron Egerton, Reese Witherspoon, and Scarlett Johansson all voice contestants. I really liked the musical numbers in the film. The animation and the music blend together beautifully. If the film overachieves in it's musical numbers, it certainly underachieves when it comes to plot and overall direction of the film. Sing II is a good film that could have been a great one, if the plot would travelled on a more interesting trajectory. If you like musicals about musicals and movies with animated animals, Sing could well be your jam.
When It comes to placing content on this blog I continually am reminded of the Peanuts comic strip. Lucy would hold the football for Charlie Brown to kick it and then pull it away from him at the last second . He would fly through the air and land on his back. Lucy always seems to be able to convince Charlie Brown that this time it will be different and each time it ends exactly the same.
In my blog I have these ideas for recurring posts and quite often I start them but then never get to finishing them. One of these actually predates my blogs and that is the idea of watching 12 movies I have not seen before in a year. Of course I complicate this simple plan by stating that the films must be from different eras. Each year by April or May I have forgotten which new movies I've seen and I don't meet my goal. I thought blogging about them might help me keep track, but it only ends up documenting my failure . In some ways I am both like Lucy luring me to try again each year and like Charlie Brown convincing myself that this time I'll be different falling flat on my back when the football is metaphorically pulled from my path.
My wife likes to say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results. But that same wife once co wrote a song with me entitled I'm insane, you're insane, who's gonna win. So since I already am (I won) sanity challenged, trying again this year isn't that bad of an idea. Maybe this time I'll at least make it to AAUGHust.
As I said I try to split the films up so they are not all from the same era. I try to choose 4 films that are older than me and 8 that have come out in my life time
This year I plan to see 2 new to me films from each of these 6 eras
I. 2009 to 2023
II. 1994 to 2008
III. 1979 to 1993
IV. 1964 to 1978
V. 1949 to 1963
VI. before and including 1934 to 1948
I have already watched 2 new movies this year.
The first was the 1949 film In The Good Old Summer Time. I have wanted to watch this one for a while, and actually was reminded of it when I shared a YouTube video here earlier this month.
I would give this movie a rating between 2 1/2 and 3 stars out of 5. The film takes place in the early years of 20th century Chicago featuring Judy Garland and Van Johnson as two music music store workers who are also engaging in a mail correspondence not realizing that they know each other in what will be called " IRL" more than a century later. This musical is based on the 1936 Hungarian play Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo which has spawned 2 other movies and one Broadway musical. One theme from the film is that circumstances can effect the way we view the world especially how we evaluate people. I really enjoyed the performances by Buster Keaton (Sherlock Holmes, Jr.) , and S.Z. Sakall (Casablanca) as the shopkeepers nephew and the shopkeeper, respectively. Their presence helps bring out much of the films comedic elements. One aspect of the film I did not enjoy was that many of the musical numbers, although entertaining on their own merit, did not really go with the story that was being told. This led to kind of an uneven feel to the film, which led to my mediocre rating. I would definitely recommend this film to fans of Garland and to those who like to watch different adaptations of the same source material.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 6 more times this month.
Film: The Muppet Movie (1979)\
Director: James Frawley
One of our most famous family quotes goes like this. My wife was asked why she didn't like a certain movie. Perhaps it was Princess Pride, perhaps it was something else Her reply was:
"I like movies about real things, like the Muppets."
I don't remember if she was being serious or silly, but there is a degree of seriousness we can find in it. Just like Roger Ebert talks about in the review below, in a way, The Muppets are real.
Positive Tomato: Jolson sang, Barrymore spoke, Garbo laughed, and now Kermit the Frog rides a bicycle... If you can figure out how they were able to show Kermit pedaling across the screen, then you are less a romantic than I am: I prefer to believe he did it himself. Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times
Negative Tomato: while The Muppet Movie is certainly entertaining, the shift to a coherent, linear, feature-length narrative deprives the film the show's brilliantly structured inanity. James Kendrick - Q Network Film Desk
The Muppet Movie is a movie within a movie. We watch the Muppets screening The Muppet Movie, a movie about how The Muppets became rich and famous. For those who grew up watching The Muppet Show, we are familiar with the basic concept, Muppets and humans interacting together in the real world.
Resiliency: In the show the world was limited to the Muppet Theatre. In the film, The Muppets are in swamps, churches, county fairs, restaurants, bars, and Ghost towns, all on their way to Hollywood. Jim Henson and all the Muppeteers had to show great resiliency in performing and filming. Click here to get an idea of what Henson had to go through to film the opening sequence of the movie.
Kermit at the Smithsonian
Scooter and Steve Martin on The Muppet Show
On The Muppet Show, the Muppets did perform many musical numbers but the majority of these were either pop tunes or standards. The Muppet Movie is a musical and none of the songs existed until Paul Williams wrote them for the movie. If you ever wonder whether the Muppet Movie has any lasting impact, try to imagine a world without Rainbow Connection or Movin' Right Along.
Top 100: I have mentioned before that I basically have 3 favorite movies of all time that are essentiallly in a tie for my favorite film. In the Challenge so far, I have revealed that 2 of these films are It's A Wonderful Life and Ordinary People. The Muppet Movie is the third.
Hello and welcome back to A Month at the Movies, my contribution to the A to Z challenge for 2023.
This year I am copying from a myriad of other A to Z challengers by reprinting the same synopsis about my theme with every letter. You can skip over this part if you want to.
I love movies and have decided to share with you a movie each day that I have enjoyed to one degree or another. With each entry, I'll give a brief synopsis of the film, share a positive and negative review from Rotten Tomatoes ( a website, I didn't use much at all until preparing for the challenge), discuss its resiliency (the theme of the A to Z challenge this year), and other tidbits like whether the film may appear in my top 100 film list, which I have been revamping this year. I think that's enough in the way of introduction, considering you'll be reading it (hopefully) 20 more times this month.
Film: 42
Director: Brian Helgeland
I grew up loving baseball. I didn't think much of it. Baseball was always there. I could watch it on t.v. I could play it with my friends and I could dream about being my favorite players Dick Allen or Hank Aaron.
These players were black and I was white. At that time I had never met a black person, but that didn't bother me. My heroes were great baseball players and I wanted to be like them. That I could do that is a tribute to Branch Rickey, the general manager who helped integrate baseball and to Jackie Robinson who was the first black player in the modern era of baseball.
Positive Tomato: Well-paced and often riveting, and manages to inspire while remaining true to sport and to the player who changed it and all of the professional sport forever. Bruce DeMara - Toronto Star
Negative Tomato: 42 is a hackneyed, cookie-cutter film that manages to tell us absolutely nothing about a turning point in American history. AP Kryza - Willamette Week
Chadwick Boseman shines as Robinson. He gives us a glimpse of how difficult it is to be the first.
Harrison Ford transforms himself into Branch Rickey.
Resiliency: When Rickey tells Robinson his plan to have him be the first black player in baseball, they have this exchange...
Robinson: You want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight back?
Rickey: No. No. I want a player who has the guts not to fight back.
This resiliency to take the verbal abuse, the discrimination, to receive the hate mail and death threats is shown scene after scene.
Top 100: Regardless of whether it makes my top 100 (I imagine it will) it will always be my top 42.
A to Z Connections: This is the 3rd sports film (Breaking Away and Chariots of Fire) and the second film with Harrison Ford (The Empire Strikes Back).
As I mentioned in my Januarying post, I am trying to watch 12 new movies to me this year and review them here on my blog. I am trying to find movies made at different times, 8 during my lifetime and 4 before I was born. The Catered Affair fits into the latter designation being made in 1956. The National Board of Review said it was one of the best 10 films of 1956 and awarded Debbie Reynolds Best Supporting Actor.
I enjoyed this movie and would give it probably 3 out of 5 stars. The movie features Ernest Borgnine and Bette Davis as a New York City Cab Driver and his wife who are advised at the film's start of the upcoming marriage of their daughter portrayed by Debbie Reynolds. The film then depicts the changes that take place in the relationships of family and friends in preparation for the marriage. One theme that is explored in the film is the differing perspectives, challenges, and expectations that are experienced in both weddings and marriages. This movie is similar in at least 4 ways to one of my top 10 favorite films, Marty. 1) It takes place in New York City in the 1950s and New York itself functions like a character, 2) It stars Ernest Borgnine. 3) It was written by Paddy Chayefsky and 4) originally aired on television before being adapted for film.
One thing I like about this movie is that it takes a "warts and all" view of both family and marriage but still remains hopeful about the institutions. One thing I disliked about the movie was that it was no Marty. Marty is a film that I can watch again, and again and never grow tired of. This movie lacks the endearing charm and cosmopolitan wit of Marty. This doesn't make it a bad film, just not a top-10 one. I think people who like Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine or Debbie Reynolds will like this movie. I also feel people who watch this movie will end up liking Davis, Borgnine, and Reynolds as they all do good work here.
Even though you can't tell by the weather yet, I am on my Summer break from substitute teaching. Monday was my last day until August. This summer besides working a local movie theatre and the Kane Cougars baseball team as a concessionist I will also be volunteering for a month with my family at a camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
One of the perks of working at a movie theatre is free movies for me and my family. Last weekend I noticed a new movies coming in called Family Camp and I recognized the people on the poster. At the bottom of the poster it said it was a Skit Guys production.
I have seen many skit guys skits first as a volunteer at my church youth group and some of them in Sunday morning services. Here is a good example of their work.
With the prospect of spending a month volunteering at a camp which hosts family camps and because of my familiarity with the Skit Guys and because of my ability to watch free movies at my theatre I took my daughter to watch Family Camp.
As you can tell by the title of this post, I was not a fan of the movie. I may have walked into the film for free, but I walked out feeling like I had spent too much.
As my daughter pointed out there wasn't much of a Christian message to this film. Yes we laughed at times but there wasn't much to the plot and what there was to the plot was recycled from so many movies before. This was especially disappointing as the Skit Guys skits are original, humorous and imbued with a Christian message.
In 1979 , the summer before I started high school, Bill Murray's first movie Meatballs came out. This was the story of a Summer camp and Murray played the head counselor. In my opinion, it is a very funny movie but a little raunchy. In the Summer of 1986 I worked as a counselor at a Christian Camp. When I applied for the position I wrote about how the movie Meatballs was an inspiration to work at the camp. I referenced the relationship between Murray and Chris Makepeace who played a camper and how Murrays character invested time with Makepeace's character to bring out the best in him.
The fact that there was more of a believable transformative narrative in Meatballs which is basically a PG Animal House in a camp rather than college setting than in a Christian film is deeply disappointing. I think the probability of people like me enjoying Family Camp is cloudy with no chance of Meatballs,
At the end of each year I like to reflect on the year past and prepare for the coming year. I have been thinking quite a bit about some of my goals and whether I have achieved them this year. One goal I set each year and have so far failed to achieve is to watch 12 movies I have not seen before.
I like movies and have worked at a movie theatre since 2019. Besides watching new movies at the theatre, I tend to watch my favorites over and over. I also like to watch movies that are new to me and discover new favorites. On many occasions I have attempted to watch 12 new to me movies in the course of the year. I may have accomplished this goal in the past, but I have always failed to chronicle it. Next year,I will try again to write a post each month about the "new" movie I have seen.
Let me explain the parameters I have placed upon myself. When I say new movies, I do not mean 12 2022 movies at the theater. I mean 12 movies released prior to 2022. Also, I don't only want to watch movies made in my lifetime, I want to explore through all the eras of cinema.
Here is how I am doing it: I was born in 1964 and have divided that time in 4 periods and then divided the time prior to my birth into 2 periods. These periods are:
2007 through 2021 1993 through 2006 1979 through 1993 1964 through 1978 1949 through 1963
Pre 1934 through 1948
I will attempt to watch 2 movies from each era, and report back here each month with a review. I was recently subbing for some high school English classes saw an assignment for a movie review. I am going to use that assignment as the template for my monthly reviews.
I will rate each movie on a 1 (worst movie ever) to 5 (best movie I have seen) scale.
I will provide a 2-3 sentence summary of the movie.
I will share 1 theme from the movie.
I will write one thing I liked about the movie and 1 thing I disliked about the movie.
I will say who I think would make the best audience for this movie.
The thing I like most about this type of review is that it is only supposed to be 1 paragraph. I have failed many times in the past not to watch the movies but to chronicle them as I have had unrealistic expectations of the quality of such a review and the time it takes me to make a longer review. \
Last Thursday I finally watched The Matrix (1999) for the first time. It was playing at my theatre in anticipation of Matrix Resurrection which opens soon. When I told my wife that it was showing she noticed it was also on a streaming service we subscribe to so we watched it together after work.
Here is a review of The Matrix following the template and giving me some practice for the task at hand next year.
In my opinion The Matrix deserves 4 of 5 stars for being a thrilling innovative and entertaining film that kept me on the edge of my seat. The Matrix appears to take place at the turn of the 20th century but the main character Neo discovers that all is not what it seems. His discovery leads him to another reality and to a choice of which reality he should follow. Once Neo makes his choices he uses his new powers for the good of humanity. One important theme of the movie is the concept of fate. One thing I really liked about the movie was the fast paced frenetic action. I disliked the intense violence of the movie, I was not aware that this series of movies are all R rated, I think the violence could be ratchetted down a little for a PG13 rating instead. This movie is best suited for sci-fi fans who like post apocalyptic action films that are both dark and hopeful at the same time.
In late 2020 Randy Stonehill released a new album entitled "Lost Art of Listening". At Christmastime 2020 I became the fortunate recipient of said album. I was instantly intrigued by the title. It got me thinking that listening to an album, a process that I grew up on, is becoming an increasingly lost art, ESPECIALLY in this digital age.
Pandora , Spotify Sirius XM, and You Tube have changed the landscape of how we consume music these days. C.D. Players, Turntables and the like have been replaced with phones, smart speakers and Roku. The days of listening to an album from beginning to end have been put on an endangered list by the very conveniences that have sprung up around us. I also have had until very recently the majority of my CDs, and cassettes packed in boxes in my house since our move. I had sold most of my record albums to Half Priced Books prior to our move. A friend just returned about 60 albums I had lent him prior to our move and gave me a record player to put them on line. The only working cassette player we own is in the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee I gave my son when he graduated high school last year, so technically, I don't even own that anymore. I won't even have the severely limited access I have to it now once he moves out.
My process for listening to an album is as intricate and as simple as I am. Ideally, I'd like to set aside a couple hours and really dig into the album. These days unencumbered hours are a luxury, so I'll generally settle for a casual listen while attending to the everyday business of family life. This initial listen the album becomes is a little more than background noise and does not yield many if any lasting impressions. This type of listen is a first step though. I equate it to walking a few blocks very day especially when you can't make your usual step count.
After this initial listen or sometimes concurrent with the initial listen I try to pore through the album materials (or the J-card as they call it in the biz). Stonehill's J-card was quite extensive , often difficult for my quinquagenarian eyes to handle but filled with lots of great information.
For my second listen, I waited until I had some undisturbed free time. With everyone out of the house., I let the music , singing, and lyrics hit me where I was. This was as freeing as it was challenging since it is counterintuitive these days to try to do just one thing at a time.
After some time passed, I listened to the album in it's entirety a few more times. These listens help me get a real sense of the album but I was still short of my goal of being able to convey that sense to others. To achieve that goal I decided to listen to each song back to back and describe the songs while in the act of listening.
Here are my observations . . .
Mercy in the Shadowland - The first song starts with strains of a hopeful melancholy that mixes world weariness with the promises of unspeakable joy both in the present journey and our permanent destination. Featured Lyrics: We'll find our rest if we just confess our sad estate. OhJesus said The Poor in spirit shall walk through Heaven's gate
This Old Face- Whimsical wisdom amid evocative imagery is one of the thing's I've come to expect from Uncle Rand these many years and This Old Face does not disappoint. This song could be titled turning 70 as this is something Stonehill, born in 52, will be doing sooner than later. Featuredlyrics: It's been weathered by the wind of sadness and of sin but it shines whenever Heaven's love appears.:
Beginning of the Living End - Stonehill goes into full rock and roll mode with this bluesy guitar driven altar call. Featured lyrics: Every soul is a precious jewel, everyone should count the cost. We should all take a wake up call from the thief upon the cross.
Thinly Veiled Threat -The rock show continues and slows the tempo down a notch but ratchets up the lyrical intensity with a song that could be titled the vanity vanity it's all vanity blues Featuredlyrics: History repeats like a nightmare you never can forget. All our grand inventions promise us a better world and yet, they leaves us bruised and bloody and they mock us like a thinly veiled threat.
She Loves Me -
A love song about the unfathomable divinity of romantic love. As a man who is constantly amazed by the love I share with my wife this song resonates throughout my marriage, Featured Lyrics: I am much more blessed than a man can be. The beauty of her soul brings me to my knees.
Coyote Moon Every album has a song that can get blipped over in the course of the initial hearings. It wasn't until I listened to this song twice in a row that I really heard the haunting simplicity of comfort found within it. The truth in this song is an oasis. If this album were available on vinyl, Coyote Moon would make a great last song for the first side. That way, you could ruminate over it's beauty as you flipped the disc. Featured Lyrics: Here we begin hearts on the wind laughing carefree children. But then one day, they run away cause nothing stays the same,
Still Not Over You This is vintage Stonehill: 3 different verses as examples of the theme, interspersed with a bridge and a crafty guitar interlude. It's A 5 paragraph essay for the soul, with enough originality to get it placed on the top of the pile. Featured Lyrics: (I chose the bridge cause it actually has the word bridge in it and I'm a sucker for symmetry.)Some bridges we cross, some bridges we burn sometimes the scars remind us what we learn. Sometimes you just have to turn and go the other way.
Billy Frank -A song by one of my favorite artists about one of my personal heroes, It's no big surprise that I love it. What is surprising about this love letter to Billy Graham is how Stonehill paints him in human colors and not with stain glassed hues. Featured Lyrics: You were just a Carolina boy who dreamed of playing ball who turned your heart to heaven when you heard a higher call.
Since this is my favorite song on the album I'll add some bonus lyrics:
You;ve been the voice of truth to presidents and kings.
But you've never been impressed by such things
Nothing is more precious in your sight
Than Jesus Christ the Savior crucified.
The next 3 songs are called father trilogy. This led me to tweak my process just a tad; instead of listening to each song in the trilogy twice in a row, I listened to the entire trilogy back to back . In short, I tried to experience it and thus chronicle it in the way I felt this section was meant to be experienced.
Leonard Has a Toaster Stonehill again uses comedy to broach a serious subject, family dysfunction. This song is at least somewhat autobiographical as Randy is the youngest son of the late Leonard Stonehill. As to whether the toaster is actual, vegetable or mineral, I don't know. Featured Lyrics:Age to age the dysfunction carries on, like the passing of some toxic baton.
Where Are You The 2nd song in the trilogy walks us through the pains and difficulties of having a loved one with Alzheimer's. Leonard Stonehill passed away in 2014 with Alzheimer's so this song is likely part of Randy's actual journey. Musically, vocally, and poetically Where Are You evokes memories of early Stonehill masterpieces.. Featured Lyrics:I'm becoming a stranger in your distant eyes. I am wrestling the weight of my despair. I keep wishing I could hold you close enough to heal you like some sacred prayer.
Goodbye Old Friend We say goodbye to the trilogy as Sir Stonehill serenades his father with a tender tearjerker laced with hope and regret. Again, one featured lyric is not enough Featured Lyrics 1: There's a certain tug of war between a father and a son. Words we spoke in anger , damage that's been done. I guess were both just broken like the fences we never got to mend. Featured Lyrics 2: I should have thanked you so much more for listening to my song. For all the caring things you did to help me carry on. There with me like a dusty long lost letter I always meant to send.
For the last 3 songs of the album I went back to the listen twice while composing strategy utilized prior to the trilogy
Worry About Money Billy Sprague once had an album called Serious Fun. This album could certainly be title Serious Whimsey or perhaps Juxtaposition Jukebox. Worry About Money is a down home bluegrass foot stomper that at the same time is a biblically accurate rebuke of how the material world has altered our spiritual priorities. Featured Lyrics:Money is a thing that we all need. It can serve you well but for heaven's sake it's always been the frosting never been the cake.
Angel of the Highway - This beautiful song is an encouragement of staying on the road God put you on. Featured Lyrics: It's true I'm always travelling guess that's just where I belong. Moving on from town to town with a prayer and a lover's song.
Dance Behind the Laughing Sky -
If the Lost Art of Listening is an Epistle from Stonehill to his listeners, Dance Behind the Laughing Sky is a worthy benediction.. Consider the opening lines:
Majesty on High, speaks a Holy Word and breathes a billion stars.
Love's the reason why, He molds us in his hands and tell us who we are.
Life is so much more than just a waking dream a road where dark shadows entwine.
Listening to an album may be a lost art, but Lost Art of Listening makes that art priceless.
2. Listen to the album and buy songs or the entire album at bandcamp.com.
2. Watch Stonehill's 2017 appearance on More Than a Song at Dave Out Loud. It features live performances of Worry About Money and Beginning of the Living End
The Lost Art of Listening C.D. is available at Stonehill.com for $15.00. It makes an excellent Christmas present, and I speak from experience. :
My Dad will turn 77 next month. The movie I watched this month for the first time came out 2 years before he was born. There is often a tendency to think that anything that happened before you were born as hopelessly out of date. To think that nothing of cultural significance happened before you showed up. However, this is far from true. In 1936 when Modern Times
In 1936 when Modern Times opened in theaters it was already anachronistic. Modern Times, was a silent movie when the talkies had pretty much put that once flourishing industry out of business. Much like B&W movies were still being made in the 50's and 60's when most of the films were in color, there were still a handful of silent movies made in the middle 30's when Modern Times came out. Technically Modern Times (depicted below in lego format) is not technically a silent film. There is talking but not by any of the characters in "real life" only through the loud speaker, record player, or other "modern" inventions of the time. Chaplin also sings in one of the final numbers.
The rest of the movie is typical of the prototypical 1920 silent movies with music played over the action and dialogue cards. For example, here is a clip from the beginning of the film ...
One of the things I found most interesting about this movie is that even 80 years ago some things (like silent movies) that once had mass appeal were becoming obsolete and other things (like a modernized dehumanized work force) were tolerated but not liked or really accepted. There are many good reviews of the film that makes these points very skillfully, I recommend this review from Decent Films.
I also found the 1936 review from Variety to be most informative. The last line of the review, although written for "modern" audiences 80 years ago, has a tinge of prophecy to it.
"Film has been two years in actual work and Chaplin should today find as wide a world-wide market as in yesteryears."
I found the movie to be very accessible even to modern audiences. That is one of the reasons why critics and filmgoers alike still enjoy this film. My watch again likelihood is 90 to 100%.
Listening to an old CD is like going into the way back machine. When I pull out Billy Crockett's Simple Plans
I'm transported back to 1999 when it came out. It was released on August 31, 1999, just a few days prior to my oldest daughter's release. So back in my newlywed apartment days I first heard this album. I have it both on c.d. and cassette, so I probably first heard it on cassette and then picked it up in a cd bargain bin sometime after that. I am glad I did ,as we no longer have a functioning cassette player in the house. I found this out much to my chagrin earlier this week when trying to listen to Crockett's earlier Red Bird Blue Sky, which I have only on cassette. Don't even get me started on vinyl.
There is much to love about Simple Plans, from it's delightful cover art to the fact that it's dedicated to Habitat for Humanity, the fact that the music is evocative of so many styles of music while maintaining its own distinct sound. One of the things I like most about the album is that the music is so reminiscent of the work of so many of my favorite Christian artists, particularly, the late Rich Mullins, Allen Levi and Noel Paul Stookey, best known as the Paul from Peter , Paul and Mary and also Bob Bennet. Michael Kelly Blanchard and Michael Card. I just started playing the album and will give you a few reflections as I listen. For the shaping of a shelter, where everybody can come home Simple plans, the title song ,starts things off. It catches the ministry of Habitat for Humanity in a musical nutshell . It is soothing musically and also spiritually energizing. This song reminds me of Spider Droid and my trip to Joplin Missouri a few years ago where we helped with construction and clean up after the tornado. Oh remember the fish and the loaves, how love has a math of it's own The very catchy "what you got" is a reminder that we are just pieces in God's redemptive puzzle. It is a perfect tie in again to ministries like Habitat for Humanity that rely on volunteer efforts. We may think that we have relatively little to bring to the table, but by a "just bring what you got" mentality we can see God do so much beyond our own meager efforts. You may live on borrowed time, broken heart and troubled mind, God thinks your the keeping kind My friend Don Brorsen and I used to call songs like no strings on love, what's your point songs back when we were deejaying together in college, We called them this because they repeat the moral of the story lyric so many times. We sometimes meant this term derisively, however the repetition works nicely on no strings on love. Don, like all of us, lived on borrowed time , dying of cancer earlier this year. He also was familiar with broken hearts and troubled minds, I am not sure if he ever heard this song but confident it would have ministered to him if he had. This song is the most Stookeyesque of the set. It is fast paced, but deep , thoughtful and provocative. I will remember the hands of Christ, touching the broken, the scandalized.
If No Strings on Love is the most Stookeysque of the tracks on Simple Plans, Love The World is hands down the most Mullinsesque. Crockett performed BGV's for Rich Mullins self titled debut Album in 1986 and also played guitar and toured with Mullins in later efforts. Just a few years after Mullins untimely death, Mullins presence is palpable on Simple Plans and most evident on this track as well as the cover artwork. What I see in you is shining in your eyes written on your face ... and I will be the lucky one for all I see in you. All I See in You seems to be an intimate song about a friendship that I would love to know the whole story about. It reminds me of the power that encouragement brings and how well placed words can have a lifetime of benefit. I remember when I was engaged to Amy, I was briefly unemployed and felt bad as I had no job. When I shared that concern with her, she said I'm not worried, you always work. That confidence in me has helped me many times in retrospect when difficulties have come. Knowing that Amy is in my corner, has been enough to keep on punching through. What have you learned that means a difference to you?
Billy Crockett and Allen Levi are the only 2 artists I know who have the consistent ability to be simultaneously irreverent, silly , poignant and thought provoking. There songs are like poetic lasagna with many layers weaved throughout. Tap on Your Shoulder from the fast pace to the Stookyesques "Tap Tap" is the most fun song on a very fun album. All of my children will be who they will be and I will be there with them to the end.
While there may be too much hoe down in All of My Children for my wife's liking, I like the simple message that God made us special and loves us very much. It's a very Big Idea. I find my guitar and I walk to the light and I vow to be the man I'm made to be tonight. Following Hammer Thumb , a brief instrumental interlude that shows off Crockett's mammoth guitar abilities , Mark and Sammy is the one song on the album that has not aged well. This is mainly due to the fact that Crockett uses the home run race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa from 1998 to sing about doing your best and playing at a high level. Unfortunately how could Crockett know that McGwire and Sosa's achievements would be tainted by allegations and admissions of steroid use? It is my sincere hope that Crockett did not use PED's or fill his guitar with cork to complete this album. It all turns doesn't it turn, daylight to darkness and daylight back again
It All Turns is a modern lullaby, a soothing song about the beautiful cyclical nature of life. It is like the book of Ecclesiastes from a glass half full perspective. Nobody wants to be the last in line.
Jesus mixes things up. He took the hierarchy of his day and stood it on his ear. In his vivid descriptions of what it means in our society to be last, Crockett shows how powerful Christ's contention that in the kingdom of heaven the last will be first, really is.
The problem with many records is that they are not produced to have one cohesive message. The songs are not laid out in any order and are usually a hodge podge thematically. I do not feel that way about this album. The overall message I get from Simple Plans is that of a modern epistle about God's role in our lives, and ours in His mission. Like most epistles, Crockett ends his with a benediction called Traveling Mercies.
My favorite lines from the song are ... Go in peace live in grace trust in the arms that will hold you go in peace live in grace trust God's love
That is a message suitable for 1999 , now and the future.
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