New Class Now Available

So, for some months I have been considering starting a new column here at T.A.A.R.

As you may well have gathered, I love story telling. The conflict, the resolution, the adventure created by brilliant people, and illustrated by your minds eye (reading) or simply visually enjoyed.

That is why I started SpentCasings, to collaborate with my cohorts in a mutually appreciated form (for me, it's a love affair), which failed miserably. (yes, you can read that however you want.) For whatever reason. I don't care any more. I have gotten over the disappointment. And I have not forgotten about SpentCasings either. It just seems like I have.

Then I tried to encourage the exchange of ideas in reading literature with The Looking Glass Wars. And that fell flat too. But that's okay. S'all good.

And to prove that I am undaunted, unfazed by past failures, I am going to begin what I call "Film Deconstruction 101: An interactive study of movies, what works, and what doesn't."

This is the After Action Report after all.

As you may have noticed I like movies, and what you may not have noticed, I am interested in making movies. I also believes that a wise man learns from his mistakes, and an even wiser man learns from ANOTHER MAN'S mistakes. If I can avoid the mistakes that others have made, why wouldn't I?

So, look for Film Deconstruction 101 in the coming weeks.

Justified

I know that it is not polite ettiquet to blow your own horn. But I can not help doing that this morning.

I am justified.

Last year (or was it longer) on SpentCasings I dressed VanHollen, and was flayed alive for my "bad taste."

But then this morning I discovered these.

I realized that that is only just a small part of her ensemble, and yes, those boots truely are hideous, and not what I envisioned, but it goes to show, that what goes around in fashion, comes back with a vengenance. And apparently someone thinks that they are fashionable.

So again, I can not help but go: HA!

downhere

So last year, I discovered this band "downhere" (that's how they write it). You'll remember the post I did with two of their videos: The More and A Better Way. It was actually those two songs that led me to buying their album Wide-Eyed and Mystified and it was the tracks that they WERE NOT playing on the radio that got me hooked on downhere. They are my current favorite ACC band. (It used to be BarlowGirl but then they released "How Can We Be Silent" which is just an homage to loudness and lacks the sincerity and fun of their earlier work) I love musicians who sound just as good live as they do on their CDs, it says to me that they have actual talent, and not just a great producer/engineer. And that's downhere.


For example: there's a group in the playlist at the bottom of the page called Wavorly, I love their song Praise and Adore, inspired by one of C.S. Lewis' books, but when I went over to youtube to check them out, I felt sorry for them, firstly because they couldn't cary a tune in a bucket, and secondly because the front man was covered in ink, and not only did he have both ears pierced, but he had those hole producing barrels in his lobes. Now, I don't care if he wants to do that, but the deapth of his relationship with Christ was exposed. Shallow.

That is not the impression I get from downhere. Obviously I don't know them, but their song writing indicates to me a group of men who want to be more, and who want to encourage others to be more, through tracks like Surrender and Great Are You and From Protest to Praise and The Real Jesus.

I said all of this to say that in the course of looking for songs for my playlist, I went to their websight last night and discovered that they had produced another album, Ending is Beginning. I had company over last night so I wasn't able to spend any time there, so I went back there this morning and found the link to Jeremy Theissen's blog, and it was there that I got the imbed above for their new top 5 single, I Am Here.

Hope you enjoy.