It's been a long time since I blogged, and I have so many things to talk about I don't know where to start.
First, personal. Sunday was a joy for me because I got to baptize my son Jacob. I thank God for a son who is following in the ways of Jesus.
Second, Paste. Have you heard about this magazine? I have been a big fan and subscriber from the very first issue. They started out as a quarterly and now they're publishing every other month. I am sure there will be monthly issues in the near future. It's a fast-growing, well-respected magazine that covers music and film and culture from a unique perspective. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Culture," and it celebrates excellent art that flies just under the mainstream radar. I appreciate that it does not exclude music or art by people of faith as long as the music or art in question is good. Where else will you find music by Mark Heard, Sara Groves and Terry Scott Taylor taken seriously alongside music by Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie and Lucinda Williams? And while it celebrates "best-kept secret" music like Over the Rhine and Denison Witmer, it is not afraid to promote great music by mainstream artists and bands like U2 or Coldplay, niche artists like Pedro the Lion or John Hiatt and "Never Heard of 'Em" artists like The High Llamas, . Oh, and did I mention that with every issue they include a free sampler CD (usually with 20+ songs on it) and a DVD (with music videos, live music, short films, movie trailers, etc.)? It's a great deal... I highly recommend it. Paste introduced me to some of my favorite artists through their samplers: Rufus Wainwright (I still remember hearing I Don't Know What It Is from "Want One" for the first time...), Erin McKeown (Cinematic from "Grand"), Hem (Half Acre from "Rabbit Songs") and The Incredible Moses Leroy (Transmission C from "Become the Soft.Lightes"). Oh man, can't forget Joseph Arthur (Can't Exist from "Our Shadows Will Remain"), Josh Rouse (Love Vibration from "1972") and Shannon McNally (The Worst Part of a Broken Heart from "Geronimo.")
I cannot wait for several movies: Joshua and I are big fans of the Harry Potter books, so we're planning to see "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" this Saturday. Luanne and I saw "Rent" on stage in San Jose a few years ago, and it was amazing. We're excited about the film version, opening next Wednesday, which was mostly filmed here in San Francisco. Our friend Tony even had a stand-in scene with Rosario Dawson, and another friend, Heather Powers, sang on the soundtrack. I think "Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash biopic, looks excellent. I'm probably most excited about "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe." I've been a fan of C.S. Lewis for years. I remember loving this book so much that I read it aloud to my new bride in the first year of our marriage. I read it to Josh a few years back (It was the first of our 15+ novels we've read together.), and now I'm reading it to Jacob. All the pre-release buzz indicates that it will be an excellent, faithful-to-the-book rendition. Bring it on!
I think that's it for now. Thanks for reading. Over and out.