The Highest Form of Hope

Labels: engrish, humour

Thanks to Shannon for this... What an excellent way to get some important things off my chest!

Cool Whip
"Edible Oil Product." Does anything else need to be said? They take oil and somehow re-constitute it into something that must be labeled "edible". I suppose I would have a problem with any food stuffs that include the word "edible" in their list of ingredients. It also has a very peculiar aftertaste. I can sense it's presence in even the most fruit-filled jello salad.

People who save wrapping paper
Now I'm all for recycling and reducing waste and whatnot. It's not that I find the notion of reusing wrapping paper offensive - it actually could be very environmentally conscious. I would have no problem with these people if they actually reused the wrapping paper they saved! I have yet to receive a gift that was wrapped with recycled wrapping paper. The careful removing of the tape, trying desperately not to rip the paper seems like some strange performance for the givers benefit. But honestly, are you really going to reuse that paper? Wrapping paper is meant to be ripped and if you are environmentally conscious, you should give gifts in bags or decorative boxes. They are much easier to reuse.

Bible covers
I'm not sure why these things disturb me, but they do. People carrying around bibles like miniature brief cases.. it just seems wrong to me. I understand the logic behind these articles - you want to protect your bible from the elements. Fair enough. I really have no rationale behind why I don't like the bible cover, that's just how I feel.

Fake Christmas trees
Nothing says "have a depressing, post-modern Christmas" like fluffing up the old fake Christmas tree!

Musicals based on animated films
Why? WHY? There is no reason why a musical animated feature should be made into a musical on Broadway. Genres exist for a reason, not everything is automatically transferable! I know, apparently The Lion King is amazing... Well I'm still skeptical. Musicals in general are hit and miss, so the risk of wasting ticket money on musicals based on animated films is even greater. Apparently everything has been done before and there are no original thinkers left in the universe.

Dawgs (or Crocs or whatever)
I know, I know. They're so comfortable, they never smell, they're so light bla bla bla... To bad they're so ugly! You heard me! I think your shoes are ugly. This is clearly a trend that we'll look back on in ten years and say "What was I thinking??!!" I'll stick to my stinky, unsupportive flip flops thank you very much.

People who sell vitamins door to door
I understand that everyone has to make a living. I understand that vitamins can be good for you. I also understand that it is dangerous to eat things given to you by a complete stranger. And not only eat them once, but once a day for years and years.

Any movie with the words "of the" in the title
This should be a giant red flag to any movie goer. Look at the track record: Attack of the Clones, Son of the Mask, Man of the House... There are other red flags of course; anything starring Nicholas Cage, any movie that has a clearly made-up name or word in the title (Sever and Eks for example), any movie including a talking baby, anything in which Paris Hilton does a cameo, any movie with the word "Booty" in the title...

There, I've said it. So now you know not to sign me up for NutraForia, lend me National Treasure, or make me eat jello salad. So what are you suspicious of?

Labels: christmas, food, humour, movies

I'm still working away at my prospective art show... A few nights ago I had Cora Lynn over to paint and it was really great to get feedback from her. We're also both working on some paintings for advent... I'm getting a little frustrated with mine already (sigh). The deadline is looming.

If you want to see more and know more about the meaning behind these paintings visit my sketchbook.

Labels: art

It's early, I realize, to start thinking about Christmas. I blame my husband who has already put up our tree and Sasha who insists that because it is snowing, it most obviously is Christmas.

I went to Bible college at Briercrest in Caronport. Every year the community and college combined forces to put on a Christmas "Musicale". It consisted of a play written by a student or a member of the community, choral pieces for the 100 member choir, a small live community-grown orchestra, and a cast of novice actors - it was a Christmas extravaganza! And in order to make use of the gigantic auditorium, the "Musicale" just HAD to include someone flying down from the ceiling - regardless of how artistically appropriate it was!

No matter how cheesy the play was (or how off-tune the violins were), it was always one of the most anticipated events of the year. And I always looked forward to the show - it was a sign that I would soon be home for Christmas and it was a good excuse to sing in the choir (I love singing - just not that good at it). And at the end of the night, I would often go to sleep trying to think up an idea for my own Christmas play.

The Christmas "Musicale" was a wonderful idea - especially in that students or community members wrote the plays themselves. Certainly some "Musicales" were better than others. All had their moments of cheesiness, just two so saccharin I went into a diabetic coma. And I don't think Briercrest was alone in its focus on spectacle and heavy reliance on sentimentalism. You could say that these could be the two main ingredients in a Christmas play (or movie or whatever). Compared to a Christmas pageant where the main ingredients are cuteness and a kid picking his nose (guess whose kid).

And indeed, sentimentalism has its place - Dickens was a master at it. But like so many Christmas plays sentimentalism and spectacle often become the focus. Like Oscar Wilde said (I loosely quote) "Sentiment is the privilege of experiencing an emotion without having to pay for it." Sentimentalism can be helpful in conveying emotion, but it can also be manipulative. Likewise, spectacle can be great. Who doesn't like a rousing speech or an emotional song at just the right time? But unfortunately, it is often overused. Think of the third film in the The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - too many rousing speeches and tearful hobbits... it killed the movie for me.

It seems to me that we're such a numb, overstimulated society that directors and writers feel that they have to overwhelm us cute crying hobbits, flying angels and enough sentiment to cause a cavity in order to get the message through - to get a reaction or to (if I may be so bold) elicit a conversion experience.

But none of this is necessary. In an overstimulate society, people don't crave spectacle or sentimentalism - it is subtlety that satisfies. Unfortunately it is not often subtle movies that become summer blockbusters.

I've come to the conclusion that the best of art tells the truth and points to hope.

What would this look like in a Christmas play?

In my own quest for a Christmas play, I find myself considering a three of options. Option one: A very realistic interpretation of the Christmas story. Option two: A modern day version of the Christmas story. Option three: A story outside the Christmas story, but that points to the Christmas story.

Option one: I like this option because of its simplicity. Just tell the Christmas story, as close a you can come to it. Although the main plot of the story is fairly set in stone, there are many opportunities to imagine conversations between the principle actors - and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It is good to let scripture capture your imagination and take you further. Conversely, the problem I have with this option is that there is no way to recreate the "real" Christmas story - no one knows how it actually happened and to recreate it under this presumption could give it a false authority. Though the idea would be fun (doing all that fun research), inevitably if you claim that you're trying to come as close to what really happened as possible, you will upset a lot of people (not that upsetting people is so bad, just upsetting people because you claim to have ownership over a story that is NOT just yours). Every tradition holds certain things dear and a "realistic" interpretation of the Christmas story, though helpful in understanding the context of the story, it would be difficult to do this without becoming artistically arrogant.

Option two: Like the last option, this has been done before (Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus of Montreal), and done well before. I suppose this hasn't been done as much with the Christmas story. And I like it, honestly I do. Perhaps I just really like the idea of Roman soldiers carrying AK47's instead of swords and shields! No matter how much I like this option, I have a few problems. There's a post-modern tendency to re-hash older stories and put them into a modern context (taking Jane Austen's Emma and creating Clueless). And though the artistic possibilities are exciting, it has been done so many times that I'm afraid we may loose our ability to create something new.

Option three: Something totally new... The most difficult option by far - but also one that's full of creative opportunities! It's always hard to come up with something original, something that doesn't rely on cliché. Perhaps this may be the most difficult task of the Christmas play. In a holiday riddled with consumerism, cliché greases the wheels of capitalism. I think overall this is best option artistically. Telling a story, removed from the nativity, gives greater meaning to the moments when the incarnation breaks through in a far removed place seemingly beyond the reach of a tiny baby in Palestine. It should be a story that tells the truth about Christmas - the beauty, the horror, and the hope. And it should pave the way for Easter; for the nativity is balanced by La Pieta, and is superseded by the empty tomb.

So am I going to write a Christmas play? Probably not. Not now anyway (I've got one to many creative outlets at the moment). But I'll be content to let this play unfold in my head.

Labels: aesthetics, art, christmas, drama

Some engrish... just because.

A few weeks ago, my wonderfully generous husband got me a "just because" gift (the best type of gift in my opinion). He bought me an ipod! It's something I've wanted for a long time. Plus, Paul may have gotten sick of lending his palm to me so I could listen music on my walks.

So for the last few weeks I've spent many an hour on itunes downloading some long overdue new music. It's soooo tempting to spend more than you've planned. Especially when you're buying one song at a time! Here are some of my recent favorites that I listen to over and over:

Beck, the Information: "Soldier Jane", "Elevator Music", "Nausea"
This is a great album by the way - and very reasonably priced. You get music videos for every song for free!

Matt Good, Hospital Music: "Born Losers"
Recently a 16 year old in my small group informed me that Matt Good was "old people music". Ouch.

Frou Frou, Details: "Let Go"
This song is a few years old. It's on the "Garden State" soundtrack - this is also a great buy.

The Most Serene Republic, Population: "The Men Who Live Upstairs"
Great song, not so great album.

Snow Patrol, Eyes Open: "Make this Go On Forever", "Set the Fire to the Third Bar"
I'm starting to feel the same about "Make this Go On Forever" as I did about "Fix You" on Coldplay's XY album... I could honestly listen to these two songs over and over... I know, I know... It's only the same three chords repeated over and over building to an intense crescendo - yeah, I'm pretty lame. Anyway, the duet with Martha Wainwright rocks - I'm with Jian, she is awesome - but I don't want to marry her.

And I am officially addicted to my headphones... I listened to music while shopping in Superstore (without my children - just so you know I'm not a neglectful parent). It was great fun. I imagined I was in some sort of melancholic post-modern music video. And then Fiest's 1234 song came on and I imagined the hoards of weekend shoppers congesting the isles burst into a jubilant Broadway dance routine. It made the 20 min wait at the till so much more enjoyable!

Labels: humour, life in general, music