lilac wine

Props to Miley Cyrus for a beautiful rendition of James Shelton's "Lilac Wine". I even love this one better than Jeff Buckley's version. 

innocence

Riverside - Agnes Obel

The American Heritage Dictionary defines vulgar as "of or associated with the great masses of people as distinguished from the educated or cultivated classes; common...spoken by, or expressed in language spoken by, the common people; vernacular...deficient in taste, delicacy, or refinement...ill-bred; boorish; crude...obscene or indecent; offensive; coarse or bawdy." When I read this I think: South Park. SNL. PB and Cosmo Magazines. American Pie. Dumb and Dumber. And every other Box Office hit of modern comedy films. Most thirteen year old American kids can quote entire skits of Dane Cook, without skipping a beat, or a cussword for that matter. It's frustrating and discouraging to engage in, or even hold a conversation about anything at all with most people. The masses have been dumbed down, broadened, and brain-washed. Sigh. I would like to snatch up all those children sitting on the curb that are tweeting or texting, and throw them into a library. Maybe lock them in there for a week or two. Children need nature and art to gently nourish and develop them into clear-thinking adults. "Art, to many, is cultivated and refined by
nature, and therefore separate from the great masses."(Comparative Literature and Culture: Purdue University) Instead of influential literature, art, music, and a motivating free-roam environment to stimulate their imagination, children and teens are faced with shallow modern paperbacks, technology, and entertainment to fill their time. If the brain is like a thirsty sponge, what nourishment are they absorbing?? Last weekend when I babysitted again, these eight and ten year old boys sat in front of a tv screen. The entire five hours. They went from video game to video game, to tv show, to movie, to Wii, then back to vegetating in front of another tv show until they passed out. All my attempts to distract them from technology and engage them in something more stimulating was of no avail. And in fact, literature or music was futile as their collection of books was direly lacking, and there was not an instrument in sight. They also live in the city, so there was nothing outside to attract them. Like most young boys their attention span was short, impatient, and restless. It was painful for me to see them cooped up, restricted, and dulled down by technology and entertainment. I call this nature-deficit disorder. Sigh. I would like to scoop up every video gamer pro and every Nickelodeon vegetate and throw them into a forest. Perhaps give them a few fairytales to absorb into their little thirsty imaginations. Over and out. I believe my rant is over.

pick up a book.

The Cosmonaut - Fall On Your Sword

Living in modernity is like living in a box. Our lives, and everything we do in our daily lives, revolve around boxes now. Am I not typing into a box at this very moment? Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state, and an ambition to obliterate God from all Modern Thinking, had never happened, or at least had never developed to the horrific degree that it has. The infatuation with celebrities, and the obsession with technology is simply unavoidable in modern culture. Exploitation rampages through all forms of entertainment, and it is unheard of (with the exception of rare cases) to be capable of surviving without technological dependency. Political democrazy, femininity, and many other cultural values are entirely skewed and perverted, modern best-seller literature is soiled in erotic portrayals of love and beauty, and reality and purpose in meaningless watered-down fiction. If one puts the question "What is Truth?" (yes, with a capital T) to a group of secular college students, your average young American will most likely reply with his belief that truth is relative. Let's take our regular modern girl, growing up in America in the twenty-first century. Her character is developed in a whirlwind of pre-puberty boyfriend relationships, a broken family, Lady Gaga infatuation, schoolmate peer pressure, narcotics, iPods, Facebook, Twitter, exploitation, and a love-starved culture demanding her to conform to it's erotic perversion of Beauty. Let's look at a few icons, or idols, within the past couple centuries. We've got Monroe, Madonna, Britney, Gaga, Paris Hilton, Bundchen, and Miley. What do they all have in common? Fashion, abused talent, immorality, and chiefly: careers in personal erotic exploitation. Where is the fulfillment in life? I just don't get it. In Modernity, there is no pursuit of an eternity. Our culture pushes for pleasure, and partaking in the moment, the here and now. No wonder the majority of America dives into drugs (legal and non-legal) and alcohol, searching for more feeling, more meaning in life. There are no healthy role models, healthy outlets towards Reality. Now let's jump back to within the past several hundred years. The leading women (fictional and non-fictional) were the heroines of virtue, the stronghold towers of femininity: Penelope, Lady of Shallot, Jane Eyre, Lady Marian, Jeanne d'Arc, Galadriel, Anne Elliot, Elizabeth Bennet, Rebecca the Jewess, Lady Rowena... etc. etc. I hope that someday younger generations will turn back to ancient literature, and find meaning within these beautiful characters. Perhaps more youth will discover significance and principle behind the chivalric ideal of womanhood: she who is fair, chaste, virtuous, and loyal to Truth. 

She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleam'd upon my sight;
A lovely apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful dawn;
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay.

I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly plann'd,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.    

-Wordsworth

tribute to once

A favorite scene from a favorite film. Indifferently writing and recording a song on a cassette at three in the morning in her jammies..on an impulse because she couldn't sleep. Not bad. Here's to Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, and the superb film, Once. Ahh Once, proof that talent and not budget makes a good film. After all, it did win an Oscar! As an indie, foreign low-budget film, I was surprised when I heard it had been developed into a play on Broadway last year. I don't think I see it as Broadway material...I would like to see it though..I'm sure it would be interesting..

                                                                             


Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová


The Hill - Markéta Irglová

 

Gold - Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová


All The Way Down - Glen Hansard

perspective

Hungry Ghosts - I Don't Think...



      Within our lifetimes, we've marveled as biologists have managed to look at ever smaller and smaller things. And astronomers have looked further and further into the dark night sky, back in time and out in space. But maybe the most mysterious of all is neither the small nor the large: it's us, up close. Could we even recognize ourselves, and if we did, would we know ourselves? What would we say to ourselves? What would we learn from ourselves? What would we really like to see if we could stand outside ourselves and look at us?
-Richard Berendzen (Another Earth)

someone that I used to know

These crazy Canadians were smart enough to invite Sarah Blackwood to help them cover that beloved aussie, Gotye's hit.....on a single guitar....  Brilliant!!! and I'm a hooked follower. 

Although I love Blackwood, I prefer Kimbra's original vocals... just sayin'.

Gotye's vid was a bit risque for my little blog so the audio will have to suffice. :) I'm picky about his dreamy music, and look forward to him creating more passionate songs like this one. Gotye, why don't you sing louder more often?

Someone That I Used To Know - Gotye (feat. Kimbra)

Mademoiselle Agnès