The best possible love song in the world (and no one ever plays it)

For years I've been trying to track down this - Bob Seger's version of We've Got Tonight. Everybody in cheeseville has tried to cover it over the years - but if you've never heard Bob - you've never heard the song. Get your listening gear round this...

The Forecast Isn't Good

Evan Almighty

D’you ever have that thing where you love a movie even though all the evidence suggests you shouldn’t? In spite of the fact that all the critics pan it and no one really goes to see it – you just can’t help yourself. Well, that’s me with Evan Almighty. I know I know. Bruce Almighty it ain’t. And you can’t even win with Bruce because if you don’t like Mr Carey…
But I just can’t help it. I know it’s not a great movie, and it’s not as funny as it might have been, or as profound… But I just really like it. I can’t help it. It makes me laugh and think and maybe I’m alone here – but I reckon it beautifully illustrates how embarrassing it must have been to be an Old Testament prophet. I mean let’s face it – Evan has everything a dude could want and has to swap that for a bad beard, uncool clothes, bird excrement and er… a bonkers hobby. At least he didn’t have to cook his food on human crap, or walk around naked, or bury his underpants. You see we have this strange notion about the OT dudes, that they were cool heroes who towered above normal folk. We forget that their life was rather embarrassing and we probably would have scratched them off our party list. We talk about people being prophets today – well be warned if you’re praying for that gift – be prepared for a full scale move into crackersville. Cause it ain’t so much about talk talk talk – but look stupid, look stupid, look stupid. You see prophesy, it seems to me, is about doing something which will stop people in their tracks. Noah tried to do it with a big boat and it did stop people – but not for long enough – only for a nudge and a wink and witty riposte. Jonah reluctantly did something bonkers and wow! the people did stop. And God changed his mind when he saw that people were taking him seriously. Which begs the question – would God have actually sent the flood if everyone had got on the boat? And where would that have left the hapless Evan/Noah?

Blog 7 - Downsizer God

As Christmas approaches (and New year and Easter and Pentecost and Harvest) it puts me in mind again of the downsizing nature of the Boss. Ever since he made a perfect planet and then chose to entrust it to people like me it seems he displayed this tendency to go downmarket rather than up.

Have a good look at any of the renegades in the Bible and you see this trait again. Jacob, Samson, Solomon, (1000 women in his life and not one of them gets their name in the good book), Rahab - they're not really the people you'd expect to find ina who's who of the most Holy dudes on the planet.

Yet the One who is above all other contenders picked a bunch of misfits to pass on glimpses of the truth. Watched a lot of The Nativity Story movie again last weekend and it's an amazing moment when Joe holds up this tiny baby covered in goo and you remind yourself this is the Big Man himself, disguised as a child who'll die without the next feed from his mother and some old clothes from his dad.

The other thought I wanted to throw out is one Ive been musing on for a while and featured in a book called The Road Trip - that I reckon God lived on the earth for a good few years when he first made it. Or if not lived here had a holiday home. I reckon it's true cause the Good Book notes that it was a few centuries before people started to Worship God. Why? Why the change? Well Cain and Abel took offerings to the Boss and knew beyond doubt that one was rejected and one accepted. Maybe they walked to his house and met him. And if you think that's daft let's not forget that this is a Creator who walked in the garden with the first people and made 'em clothes out of the first sacrificed animal. So there ya go.

Blog 7 - Untitled (again)

Like this, like this alot. Probably 6 months out of date but I'm always the last and all that. Just watched 300. Boy those Spartans had big muscles, voices and beards. Fave line is the one about the so many arrows raining down on them it'll block out the sun - good they reply, that means we can fight in the shade... They knew no fear. Wonder what they were really like though.

Blog 6 - Interactive Shminteractive (subtitled) Faggots and Doughboys (with chips and peas)

Tempted by the doughboys but went for the faggots in the end. One of our nearby hostelries serves these delicacies for a good price. Never had a doughboy though. What are they?

Just visited the website of August Rush which a friend told me about, and I find I'm invited to remix the song playing with the trailer. Not sure I can be doing with all this interactive nonsense - I don't wanna pick my own ending, or choose the plotline - just tell me your story and I'll tell you mine. I don't wanna be telling you your story! Rant over. This isn't a slur on the movie by the way - my friend says it's great. I also find I can pre-order Shoot 'em Up! Excellent. Guns and chases and fighting and fast editing. Now that's what I CALL A ROMANTIC COMEDY. Don't you just hate it when you accidentally hit the caps button and don't realise it. I do it all the time and it doesn't light up to tell me I'm a bozo. Thats what I need - a bozo button.

Blog 5 - Untitled as yet

I just watched this trailer on the apple website – it looks, at first glance, very much like a cross between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. I have had a few chats with people about the books, and I have copies but have not read them. Partly because this kind of fantasy is not so much my thing, though I should really have a proper read. My first reaction is it seems to be yet again following the line of one person who is ‘chosen’ to fight the bad person who wishes to bring destruction (I'm confused - is Neo the one, or Harry or Frodo?). So yet again it’s the age old theme of good versus evil. The rest then, I suppose, is about the context of that. It’s interesting that after years of debate about Harry Potter it now seems that JK Rowling was inspired by Christian themes and even quoted Corinthians in her last book. That said, I am told that Philip Pullman is anti-religion, and is quite forward about stating that in his stories. Still, Paul found a statue to the unknown God in Athens and made good use of that, and surely this story is about the very Christian theme of the battle to overthrow evil, in all its forms. Sound like I know what I'm talking about, don't I, and I haven't even seen the movie yet!!

My take on all these things is let’s use them to help people think about the life God has given us – and even if the film seems anti-Christian – it’s bound to contain gutsfulls of reality. Rob Bell in Velvet Elvis says, we claim the truth where we find it. I love the notion that there is no truth beside God. There is no love beside God. So wherever you find truth and love at work – it’s a sign of the kingdom. Perhaps the challenge will be how do we make good use of the film to point people to the real chosen one – the one who’s Golden Compass was a shoddy cross – and who fought the battle through vulnerability and weakness. The danger will be that we rise up in protest against the movie – I’d rather look for the God-moments in it. And my guess is there will be shedloads…

On a much more serious note - I'm very concerned about the following vid...

Blog 4 - Not more music stuff

I grew up in the 70's when bands played proper music (like The Doolies and The Nolans) and rappers had not started to rip off all the great tunes. So here's an old classic done well. The Killers - mind you with a name like that they should be ripping off the Stranglers or the Damned.

Saw American History X last night - what a movie. And what a story of conversion. Change. Turn around. Whatever you want to call it. Put me in mind of Joseph - the one with the technicolour musical - prison changed that guy too. Come to think of it, struggle and agony changed a lot of those O..T. dudes. Jake, David, Moses. They were all on journeys of a life time. That took a life time. And on some very dark days it was the hard stuff that thwacked them into shape. Much is said these days about being born again - as if you buy the ticket at the box office and wam bam you're in the divine DVD rental club. Well I know a guy who said die every day, through the good and the bad, the point is not have I been born again, but am I in the process of; every day you die a little, and every day a new bit is born. Though a lot of days I do my best to ressurect the old bits. How d'you spell resurrect? Like that? Doubt it.

Blog 3 - Music stuff

I'm not really in the accounting 'industry' - I did work in a bank once though.

Life's been the poorer since the Wombles split. I mean, they did everything didn't they? Practically invented pop music. Nothing's been good since they disbanded. Orinoco's running a trout farm, Tomsk is on the dole and Wellington is playing bass for a Stiff Little Fingers covers band - Straight Fat Thumb.

I love this video - Ms Winehouse has awesome power in her voice, yet vulnerability in her movements. Strength and weakness. The human condition...