Despite the fact that this was hugely popular in 2007 (I have no idea why I never heard of it) and, also, the fact that I'm pretty sure it's actually some kind of prairie dog and not a chipmunk, I still think it's a perfect way to start 2008!
Happy Dramatic New Year!
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UPDATE NOVEMBER 2014 — BRAND NEW VERSION!
Available on Spotify HERE, iTunes HERE
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In the spirt of Christmahanakwanzakuh (but mostly Christmas), I've just completed a brand new remix of my song "Mary."
If you aren't familiar with this song, it's a story I wrote for Dom & Jane's Warm and Fuzzy Christmas Show for Mix 100.3 FM in Denver. W&F is a special radio morning show D&J do every year where they bring in local Denver artists to sing holiday music live on the air. It's always a lot of fun, and a great event.
In 2004, my friend Dom asked me to write an original Christmas song for the event, and I wanted to do something from a different angle. I racked my brain for weeks, and finally came up with something I thought was unique. Most people know the nativity story, with Mary and Joseph (and Jesus, of course), and I know there have been a few really great songs written from Mary's perspective, but not any that I knew of from Joseph's.
No matter what day or time you live in, marrying a girl who's gotten pregnant by someone other than you is a pretty noble thing to do. I like to think that 'ol Joe must have been pretty smitten with Mary.
"Mary" by Josh Allan
Here in the cold Hardly alone Beautiful girl, dead to the world And I'm next to her Rise and you fall Watching it all Baby inside, always reminds Never was mine I don't suppose That anyone knows Why someone like you Would care about me, Mary Star through the clouds With white falling out Snow on the ground It's Christmastime now If just in this town Light of the world At least to this boy and girl We laughed and we cried This barnyard beside Our beautiful boy Don't look down, Mary I need you now, Mary I know even by now It's all tired out Gotta let go, I'm the luckiest Joe I knowIt's been a few years since I released this song, so I wanted to do a remix. You can download it here, if you like (right click, Save Linked File, etc.). Artwork here. Happy holidays! //
Morgan Spurlock, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite people, recently released a new film called "What Would Jesus Buy?"
From the movie's website:
"What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!"I haven't had a chance to see the film yet (unbelievably, it's not currently playing in Los Angeles -- Iowa City and Lawrence, KS, but not L.A.), but the more innundated I become with marketing which insists Christmas=Debt, the more I'm drawn to a different message. I also came across this interview with the Reverend Billy himself. In the interview, I found this part to be especially interesting:
INTERVIEWER: Do you consider yourself a religious or spiritual person now? REVEREND BILLY: I've just kind of moved beyond calling myself labels. I think a part of resisting consumerism and giving people the example of resisting consumerism is to stop imitating products. That's why we don't get any money from foundations. Are we political? Are we religious? Are we artistic? Those are three labels that would come to us from the foundation world. Well, the political foundations think we are clowns. And the artistic foundations think we are political. And the religious foundations think we are atheists. So the thing that makes us powerful to people is also the thing that makes it hard to define.Related Reading: Creative Cures for the Common Christmas (by Shane Claiborne) //
A Fine Frenzy, "Ashes and Wine"
Jeremy Lister, "Ready To Fall"
Iron & Wine, "Boy With A Coin"
Hem, "Half Acre"
Griffin House, "The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind"
Michael Buble, "Everything"
The Weepies, "Gotta Have You"
Marty Sampson, "Landslide"
Robert Randolph & The Family Band, "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That"
Mario Spinetti, "Resurrection"
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So, if you are a regular reader, you probably already know that I write freelance articles and movie reviews for RelevantMagazine.com. It's been a lot of fun for me; I've really grown to appreciate the brilliance of the medium of film for communicating ideas of all kinds.
About two months ago, I reviewed Spider-Man 3. I rather liked the movie and, apparently, the rest of the world seriously did not, so upon reading some of the comments that got posted below my article I felt very much like, oh, what do they say... a whore in church. Yes, that's it. (Of course, the fact that that phrase means what it does saddens me on another level, but that's probably another day, another post, eh?)
I'm not going to retract anything I said about Spider-Man 3; I still agree with myself. I'd like to see the film again, actually, and will definitely buy it when it comes out on DVD (widescreen, please). But it has occurred to me that I did, perhaps, omit a few things from my review that should have been said. Forgive me, dear readers, for missing it the first time (and for it taking me two months to write it down):
THE PARAGRAPH MY REVIEW WAS MISSING:
Unfortunately, there were just too many villains. Yes, in a sense, it made the editing even more impressive (because despite the 80+, give or take, bad guys it was still quite understandable), but it's also true that the overall movie would have been vastly improved by simplifying the myriad villain storylines. Specifically (sorry Thomas Haden), we could've done without Sandman. The effects were a lot of fun, if not slightly exaggerated, but I think almost every Spider-Fan would agree with me when I say, "Give us more Venom!"Fin. //