It is sad that my favorite group did not win a Grammy!!
Kevin Winter / Getty Images
After his duet with Rihanna, Martin joined the rest of his band for “Paradise” off Coldplay’s latest album, Mylo Xyloto. As expected, it was bombastic and over the top. But Coldplay’s strength is its live performance, and boy did the group deliver. Even the jaded Grammy audience got into it, waving multi-colored light-up wrist bands as if they were at an outdoor music festival. This felt like a real concert, not a one-song performance inside an auditorium.
Related posts:
Music Monday”:Coldplay’s best songs of all time (Part 4)
Dave Hogan/ Getty Images This is “Music Monday” and I always look at a band with some of their best music. I am currently looking at Coldplay’s best songs. Here are a few followed by another person’s preference: For the 17th best Coldplay song of all-time, Hunter picks “42.” He notes, “You thought you might […]
The best band in the world. Below I have linked some articles I have earlier about the search for meaning in life the band seems to involved in. Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion formed Coldplay in 1996 while going to University in London. The young band quickly established themselves in the […]
I am presently involved in the counting down of the best Coldplay songs of all time, but I am also in a series here reviewing the upcoming songs on Coldplay’s new cd that will be released soon. Here is a review from Rolling Stone: Coldplay Debut new song ‘Charlie Brown’ June 6, 2011 Coldplay debuted […]
Great documentary on Coldplay. I have written a lot on Coldplay the last few years and I see something spiritually happening with the group as they continue to search for a deeping meaning in life. Coldplay Max Masters – Part 1 of 7 Uploaded by thepostbox on May 6, 2009 The ASTRA Award winning music documentary […]
Several members of the 70′s band Kansas became committed Christians after they realized that the world had nothing but meaningless to offer. It seems through the writings of both Woody Allen and Chris Martin of Coldplay that they both are wrestling with the issue of death and what meaning does life bring. Kansas went through […]
This is “Music Monday” and I always look at a band with some of their best music. I am currently looking at Coldplay’s best songs. Here are a few followed by another person’s preference: Hunter has chosen the song “Viva La Vida” as his number 18 pick. Hunter noted, “The violin synth is a […]
Coldplay – Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall Published on Jun 28, 2011 by ColdplayVEVO The new single, taken from Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall EP (featuring two more new tracks). Download it from http://cldp.ly/itunescp Music video by Coldplay performing Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. (P) 2011 The copyright in this audiovisual recording is owned by […]
Late Amy Winehouse gets Grammy award for best pop performance by a duo for duet with Tony Bennett.
Singer Tony Bennett and parents of the late Amy Winehouse Mitch and Janis Winehouse accept the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body and Soul” onstage at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Getty
Mitch and Janis Winehouse, the parents of the British singer Amy who died last year at the age of 27 following a battle with drugs and alcohol, were invited on stage at theGrammy awardsto jointly accept a posthumous award on her behalf.
The gong for best pop performance by a duo or group was awarded for Winehouse’s duet with Tony Bennett on the single Body and Soul.
“We shouldn’t be here. Our darling daughter should be here. These are the cards that we’re dealt,” said Mitch after he was called on stage by Bennett.
Paying tribute to his daughter and Houston as well as Etta James who died earlier this year, he added: “Long live Whitney Houston, long live Amy Winehouse, Long live Etta James. There’s a beautiful girl band up in heaven.”
Songstress Adele and Winehouse led an early British charge at this year’s sombre Grammy Awards, which were dampened by the shock death of singing star Whitney Houston.
Adele captured two of her six possible Grammys, including best pop vocal album for 21, at the pre-telecast ceremony which came just 24 hours after the troubled 48-year-old Houston was discovered in a bathtub at her Los Angeles hotel.
British singer/songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae also picked up a Grammy for best R&B performance as the night kicked off.
The televised segment of the 54th annual awards opened with a prayer and standing ovation to the singer, who herself won a clutch of six prestigious Recording Academy gongs over a turbulent career marred by spells of drug addiction.
Host LL Cool J said: “There is no way around this. We’ve had a death in our family so at least for me, the only thing that seems right is to start with a prayer for our fallen sister Whitney Houston.”
He declared the night one to “celebrate and remember”, and played a clip of Houston performing I Will Always Love You from the 1994 Grammys.
Houston, one of the world’s best-selling artists in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was preparing to attend a pre-Grammy party.
Sad news about Whitney Houston’s death tonight. I have included some earlier posts about drugs and alcohol and rock stars. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has […]
It was so sad to lose these people so soon. The Curse of 27 This page is in response to my most frequently asked questions – is there really a Curse of 27, how many musicians actually died at that age, and who are they. When legendary Blues man, Robert Johnson, was killed at the age […]
A curve ball in the Amy Winehouse case. Troubled Brit singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in July. / AP FILE PHOTO Written by JILL LAWLESS, | Associated Press FILED UNDER Entertainment LONDON — The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her […]
Jim Morrison’s picture above. He died way too young and many of our young people turn to drugs and suicide because of loneliness. It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to this problem that […]
CNN reported today: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Ilya Zhitomirskiy, one of four co-founders of social network Diaspora, died over the weekend in San Francisco at age 22. Zhitomirskiy committed suicide, a source close to the company told CNNMoney on Sunday. A San Francisco Police Department officer confirmed on Monday that a police report about […]
I have posted a lot about Amy before. Posted at 04:38 PM ET, 10/31/2011 Amy Winehouse releases posthumous album: why we keep listening after she stops singing By Jessica Goldstein Despite her death in July, Amy Winehouse will be releasing a new album: “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” this year. This is not a posthumous album of […]
There is a truth that many people know. You can die from drinking too much alcohol at one time. I remember like yesterday when AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott died while on tour in England in 1980. According to Wikipedia: On 19 February 1980, Scott, 33 at the time, passed out after a night of […]
Charles Murray is the W.H. Brady Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He received his B.A. in history at Harvard University and his Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has written for numerous newspapers and journals, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, and National Review. His books include Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980, What It Means to Be a Libertarian, and Real Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America’s Schools Back to Reality. His new book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010, will be published at the end of January.
The following is adapted from a speech delivered in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 28, 2011, at a conference on “Markets, Government, and the Common Good,” sponsored by Hillsdale College’s Center for the Study of Monetary Systems and Free Enterprise.
THE CASE FOR the Department of Education could rest on one or more of three legs: its constitutional appropriateness, the existence of serious problems in education that could be solved only at the federal level, and/or its track record since it came into being. Let us consider these in order.
(The last two parts were covered earlier.)
(3) So what is the federal government’s track record in education?
The most obvious way to look at the track record is the long-term trend data of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Consider, for instance, the results for the math test for students in fourth, eighth and twelfth grades from 1978 through 2004. The good news is that the scores for fourth graders showed significant improvement in both reading and math—although those gains diminished slightly as the children got older. The bad news is that the baseline year of 1978 represents the nadir of the test score decline from the mid-1960s through the 1970s. Probably we are today about where we were in math achievement in the 1960s. For reading, the story is even bleaker. The small gains among fourth graders diminish by eighth grade and vanish by the twelfth grade. And once again, the baseline tests in the 1970s represent a nadir.
From 1942 through the 1990s, the state of Iowa administered a consistent and comprehensive test to all of its public school students in grade school, middle school, and high school—making it, to my knowledge, the only state in the union to have good longitudinal data that go back that far. The Iowa Test of Basic Skills offers not a sample, but an entire state population of students. What can we learn from a single state? Not much, if we are mainly interested in the education of minorities—Iowa from 1942 through 1970 was 97 percent white, and even in the 2010 census was 91 percent white. But, paradoxically, that racial homogeneity is also an advantage, because it sidesteps all the complications associated with changing ethnic populations.
Since retention through high school has changed greatly over the last 70 years, I will consider here only the data for ninth graders. What the data show is that when the federal government decided to get involved on a large scale in K-12 education in 1965, Iowa’s education had been improving substantially since the first test was administered in 1942. There is reason to think that the same thing had been happening throughout the country. As I documented in my book, Real Education, collateral data from other sources are not as detailed, nor do they go back to the 1940s, but they tell a consistent story. American education had been improving since World War II. Then, when the federal government began to get involved, it got worse.
I will not try to make the case that federal involvement caused the downturn. The effort that went into programs associated with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 in the early years was not enough to have changed American education, and the more likely causes for the downturn are the spirit of the 1960s—do your own thing—and the rise of progressive education to dominance over American public education. But this much can certainly be said: The overall data on the performance of American K-12 students give no reason to think that federal involvement, which took the form of the Department of Education after 1979, has been an engine of improvement.
What about the education of the disadvantaged, especially minorities? After all, this was arguably the main reason that the federal government began to get involved in education—to reduce the achievement gap separating poor children and rich children, and especially the gap separating poor black children and the rest of the country.
The most famous part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was Title I, initially authorizing more than a billion dollars annually (equivalent to more than $7 billion today) to upgrade the schools attended by children from low-income families. The program has continued to grow ever since, disposing of about $19 billion in 2010 (No Child Left Behind has also been part of Title I).
Supporters of Title I confidently expected to see progress, and so formal evaluation of Title I was built into the legislation from the beginning. Over the years, the evaluations became progressively more ambitious and more methodologically sophisticated. But while the evaluations have improved, the story they tell has not changed. Despite being conducted by people who wished the program well, no evaluation of Title I from the 1970s onward has found credible evidence of a significant positive impact on student achievement. If one steps back from the formal evaluations and looks at the NAEP test score gap between high-poverty schools (the ones that qualify for Title I support) and low-poverty schools, the implications are worse. A study by the Department of Education published in 2001 revealed that the gap grew rather than diminished from 1986—the earliest year such comparisons have been made—through 1999.
That brings us to No Child Left Behind. Have you noticed that no one talks about No Child Left Behind any more? The explanation is that its one-time advocates are no longer willing to defend it. The nearly-flat NAEP trendlines since 2002 make that much-ballyhooed legislative mandate—a mandate to bring all children to proficiency in math and reading by 2014—too embarrassing to mention.
In summary: the long, intrusive, expensive role of the federal government in K-12 education does not have any credible evidence for a positive effect on American education.
* * *
I have chosen to focus on K-12 because everyone agrees that K-12 education leaves much to be desired in this country and that it is reasonable to hold the government’s feet to the fire when there is no evidence that K-12 education has improved. When we turn to post-secondary education, there is much less agreement on first principles.
The bachelor of arts degree as it has evolved over the last half-century has become the work of the devil. It is now a substantively meaningless piece of paper—genuinely meaningless, if you don’t know where the degree was obtained and what courses were taken. It is expensive, too, as documented by the College Board: Public four-year colleges average about $7,000 per year in tuition, not including transportation, housing, and food. Tuition at the average private four-year college is more than $27,000 per year. And yet the B.A. has become the minimum requirement for getting a job interview for millions of jobs, a cost-free way for employers to screen for a certain amount of IQ and perseverance. Employers seldom even bother to check grades or courses, being able to tell enough about a graduate just by knowing the institution that he or she got into as an 18-year-old.
So what happens when a paper credential is essential for securing a job interview, but that credential can be obtained by taking the easiest courses and doing the minimum amount of work? The result is hundreds of thousands of college students who go to college not to get an education, but to get a piece of paper. When the dean of one East Coast college is asked how many students are in his institution, he likes to answer, “Oh, maybe six or seven.” The situation at his college is not unusual. The degradation of American college education is not a matter of a few parents horrified at stories of silly courses, trivial study requirements, and campus binge drinking. It has been documented in detail, affects a large proportion of the students in colleges, and is a disgrace.
The Department of Education, with decades of student loans and scholarships for university education, has not just been complicit in this evolution of the B.A. It has been its enabler. The size of these programs is immense. In 2010, the federal government issued new loans totaling $125 billion. It handed out more than eight million Pell Grants totaling more than $32 billion dollars. Absent this level of intervention, the last three decades would have seen a much healthier evolution of post-secondary education that focused on concrete job credentials and courses of studies not constricted by the traditional model of the four-year residential college. The absence of this artificial subsidy would also have let market forces hold down costs. Defenders of the Department of Education can unquestionably make the case that its policies have increased the number of people going to four-year residential colleges. But I view that as part of the Department of Education’s indictment, not its defense.
* * *
What other case might be made for federal involvement in education? Its contributions to good educational practice? Think of the good things that have happened to education in the last 30 years—the growth of homeschooling and the invention and spread of charter schools. The Department of Education had nothing to do with either development. Both happened because of the initiatives taken by parents who were disgusted with standard public education and took matters into their own hands. To watch the process by which charter schools are created, against the resistance of school boards and administrators, is to watch the best of American traditions in operation. Government has had nothing to do with it, except as a drag on what citizens are trying to do for their children.
Think of the best books on educational practice, such as Howard Gardner’s many innovative writings and E.D. Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Curriculum, developed after his landmark book, Cultural Literacy, was published in 1987. None of this came out of the Department of Education. The Department of Education spends about $200 million a year on research intended to improve educational practice. No evidence exists that these expenditures have done any significant good.
As far as I can determine, the Department of Education has no track record of positive accomplishment—nothing in the national numbers on educational achievement, nothing in the improvement of educational outcomes for the disadvantaged, nothing in the advancement of educational practice. It just spends a lot of money. This brings us to the practical question: If the Department of Education disappeared from next year’s budget, would anyone notice? The only reason that anyone would notice is the money. The nation’s public schools have developed a dependence on the federal infusion of funds. As a practical matter, actually doing away with the Department of Education would involve creating block grants so that school district budgets throughout the nation wouldn’t crater.
Sadly, even that isn’t practical. The education lobby will prevent any serious inroads on the Department of Education for the foreseeable future. But the answer to the question posed in the title of this talk—“Do we need the Department of Education?”—is to me unambiguous: No.
Florida’s Patric Young (4) goes to the basket as Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes (5) tries to block the shot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
_____________________________
It appears the Arkansas Razorbacks will be facing a new and improved Tennessee Vols basketball team after UT went to Gainesville and beat the ranked Gators on Saturday.
The Hogs will also be facing Jarnell Stokes who chose the Vols over the Hogs just a few weeks ago. Arkansas really needed the presence of a good big man and is still searching for one on the recruiting trail.
I think this game will come down to one simple fact: WILL THE HOGS FIND THE SAME MENTAL EDGE THAT THE VOLS DID IN GAINESVILLE TO WIN THEIR FIRST BIG ROAD GAME?
Below is an article from Knoxville that indicates the Vols are looking to the Arkansas game for a key victory on their way back to the upper part of the SEC standings.
Key stretch has Vols in position to rise in SEC standings
By Mike Griffith
Originally published 07:08 p.m., February 12, 2012
Updated 09:20 p.m., February 12, 2012
Cuonzo Martin tried to explain what he saw in his basketball team that made him confident Tennessee would beat Florida in the days leading up to Saturday’s game.
“When players walk with a certain type of swagger, a level of confidence — not cockiness, not arrogance — they can play, and they can compete,” the first-year Vols coach said after UT shocked No. 8 Florida in Gainesville, 75-70. “Before, we just weren’t mentally ready.”
Martin’s not ready to get too carried away with his young team; especially not with an upcoming stretch run of games against teams for positions.
The Vols’ 13-12 overall and 5-5 SEC mark has lifted them into a four-way tie for fifth-place in the SEC, well ahead of the 11th-place projection they were dealt at SEC Basketball Media Day in October.
UT plays host to Arkansas (17-8, 5-5) at 8 p.m. Wednesday (TV: MyVLT) at Thompson-Boling Arena before traveling to play at Alabama (16-8, 5-5) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
___________
Florida’s Erving Walker (11) has to reach out to get around Tennessee’s Kenny Hall (20) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
____________________
Martin has taken to Twitter to urge Vols fans to turn out for the game against the Razorbacks. There was an announced (paid) attendance of 14,784 for UT’s home win over South Carolina last Wednesday, but the arena appeared half empty.
“We need our fans, and we need their support to help get us over the hump,” Martin said. “If our guys are giving effort, and they are leaving everything out on the floor, they deserve that support.”
Wins this week would
strengthen the Vols’ postseason résumé as they look to secure a spot in the NIT while also maintaining mathematical possibilities for an NCAA tournament at-large berth.
Tennessee’s RPI rating is 110, 10th-best in the SEC, while the Vols rank No. 91 in the Sagarin USA Today computer ratings and No. 81 in Ken Pomeroy’s computer rankings.
Martin had estimated at the start of the season it would take at least a year for him to get the program competing at an acceptable level.
But the Vols showed the makings of a tough, achieving unit on Saturday, playing solid defense and passing the ball unselfishly en route to snapping the Gators’ 19-game home win streak.
“We’re getting there right now,” Martin said, asked if his team has arrived. “Once we get to the point where hard work is a way of life for them, and they’re doing all the little things because they want to instead of because coach tells them to, then we’ll be successful.”
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Florida’s Kenny Boynton (1) goes for two points as he gets over Tennessee’s Kenny Hall (20) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
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UT sophomore point guard Trae Golden was the catalyst for what Martin said was the team’s most complete win of the season.
Golden had 17 points and seven assists while making four of seven shots from the floor and nine of 11 from the free-throw line in his 38 minutes.
“I think the last two games Trae has led the team on both ends of the floor and been very vocal,” Martin said. “The things I talk to him about are leading the team, getting the assists, feeding your teammates. It goes a long way when your point guard leads like that.
“That (Florida) win started with Trae putting pressure on their point guard.”
The Gators committed 15 turnovers while getting just nine assists as UT dominated throughout the game.
“I just think we’re getting better as a team,” Golden said. “We all know what we need to do now, and we all know our roles.”
McBee for Threes: Vols shooting guard Skylar McBee played a career-high 38 minutes alongside Golden, scoring 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting beyond the 3-point arc. McBee is averaging 13.7 points in his three starts.
“Skylar does a good job taking what the defense gives him,” Martin said. “He stretches the defense, he can make shots and he can get the ball inside. With Skylar being a player they have to identify on the perimeter, our big guys can play one-on-one.”
No Fuss: UT freshman Jarnell Stokes said he didn’t mean for Florida’s Patric Young to fall to the floor when he fouled him and was assessed a flagrant foul.
“Basketball is a competitive game, and I wasn’t going to let him score,” Stokes said. “But he’s a big guy, and I’m surprised he fell like that.”
Vols freshman Wes Washpun got a late technical foul after blocking a shot.
“Apparently, he used a bad word after the block,” said Martin, who replaced Washpun immediately.
Orange Slices: Jeronne Maymon recorded his seventh double-double of the season (15 points, 11 rebounds) and played 36 minutes. … Cam Tatum played 17 minutes before fouling out without having attempted a shot. … Jordan McRae’s 12-point effort in 26 minutes marked the third time in the past five games he has scored in double figures.
Florida’s Erick Murphy (33) reaches up for the basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Tennessee in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
Tom Ortenberg, CEO
Open Road Films
12301 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 571-2200
Fax: (310) 571-2278
Website: http://www.openroadfilms.com
Content:
(HH, AbAb, C, B, Pa, H, LLL, VV, S, AA, D, M) Strong Nihilistic, Humanist worldview ultimately demeaning and denying belief in God and an afterlife, with very little Christian elements such as prayer and references to Jesus Christ, marred, however, by a pagan use of abundant foul language and some anti-religious comments by two humanists/atheists in debates over God and religion and man shouts out to God in angry, and realizes that there is no God so he has to survive himself; up to 200 obscenities and profanities or more, including many strong ones; strong violence and implied violence includes scenes of wolf attacks on humans, humans fight off wolf attacks, plane crash, man eases dying man’s passing, character drowns, brief drunken brawl, freezing river sweeps away one man trying to escape wolves, and man contemplates suicide with shotgun in mouth; some verbal references to sex with prostitutes; no nudity; alcohol use and scene with a drunken brawl; brief smoking; and, men argue about the existence of God and how best to survive being stranded in a frozen wilderness.
Summary:
THE GREY stars Liam Neeson as an oilman who gets stranded in an Arctic wilderness with four men and a pack of vicious wolves. THE GREY is an intense tale of survival and life or death issues, with a strong nihilistic message denying God. However, THE GREY’S pervasive foul language and scary battles with wolves warrant excessive.
Review:
iam Neeson fights with wolves in THE GREY. The movie is survival action-thriller that has atheist characters and a pervasive stream of foul language.The movie centers on an oilman named Ottway (Neeson), who’s burned out on the harsh, male-dominated and frozen terrain of his job in the Arctic. Desperate to get back with a wife the audience sees in flashbacks, he has written her a note but takes a shotgun out and nearly commits suicide by shoving it in his mouth. He changes his mind in favor of flying home the next day. However, the plane transporting him and other workers crashes in the middle of the snowy wilderness, leaving only himself and four other survivors.Surrounded by vicious wolves and only known to each other by their last names, the men must bond quickly if they are to form a plan for survival. As they alternate between arguing and friendship while contending with the terrifying prospect of hungry wolves, raging blizzards, and hunger, they speak to each other with pervasive foul language.
Yet writer-director Joe Carnahan, who co-wrote the script with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers based on a short story Jeffers wrote, has a much deeper than expected agenda for his movie. The action elements are the hook to draw audiences into the theater, but he’s crafted a movie that will also make people think that life is meaningless.
For instance, one man in the group of survivors has an ardent faith in God, though he wonders if there was a purpose behind the hardship they’re enduring. Another is an atheist who laughs at the idea of God. Ottway himself is in the middle. He is respectful of others’ faith and invites the believer to make a sign of the cross over one of the men who dies, but he says he only wishes he had faith.
[SPOILERS FOLLOW] As the movie progresses, however, some of the men have visions of loved ones as they die, such as a long-lost daughter embracing one man while another sees the sister he lost in childhood. Ultimately, Ottway is left alone, and yells at the sky, profanely demanding for God to prove His existence with a sign or some help. None comes, so he concludes that there is no God, and survival is up to himself. So, Ottway gets on his feet again and keeps going before finally stopping, dropping to his knees and digging out the wallets of his now-dead fellow travelers, stacking them into a memorial. Finally, we see that his wife had died before his eyes. He is resigned to dying.
At that moment, he hears and sees the alpha wolf, a fearsome black beast coming toward him. A remembered nihilistic poem from his father brings Ottway to his feet as he decides to challenge the alpha wolf in a fight to the death.
[END SPOILERS]
Everything about THE GREY is beautifully shot and harrowingly presented. Even the wolves sound as if they’re in the theater with the viewer. The cumulative effect of THE GREY is depressing. The movie takes an atheist position that nothing matters, although there are some overt references to faith.
However, the constant foul language should have been cut or greatly reduced. THE GREY also has some intense, strong, and scary violence. Finally, the nihilistic content destroys any merit the movie might have.
In Brief:
THE GREY stars Liam Neeson as an oilman who gets stranded in an Arctic wilderness with four men when their plane crashes. The men learn vicious, hungry wolves are after them. They must bond quickly if they are going to come up with a good survival plan. As the men work to survive the wolves, the cold and a raging blizzard, they discuss the existence of God and faith. One man is a Christian. Another is an atheist who laughs at the idea of God. The oilman is in the middle. How will this religious debate play out when the men begin dying one by one?Everything about THE GREY is beautifully shot and harrowingly presented. Even the wolves sound like they’re in the theater. The cumulative effect of THE GREY is depressing. While it sometimes appears to take an Christian tone, it has a disturbing, relentless transition to denying God, faith and prayer. There are also some clear indications of the meaninglessness of life. However, the movie’s constant foul language should have been cut or greatly reduced. THE GREY also has some intense, strong, and scary violence, making it excessive.
A review of the new Liam Neeson film, the grey, as iI say there may be some minor spoilers but nothing too drastic, enjoy and dont forget to comment, rate and subscribe
Cast: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson
In THE GREY, Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements — and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt — before their time runs out.
Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham on Religion This article below makes we think of the lady tied to the Railroad in the Schaeffer video. Dr. Francis schaeffer – The flow of Materialism (Modern man sees no hope for the future and has deluded himself by appealing to nonreason to stay sane. Look at the example […]
Woody Allen and the Abandonment of Guilt Dr. Marc T. Newman : AgapePress Print In considering filmmaking as a pure visual art form, Woody Allen would have to be considered a master of the medium. From his humble beginnings as a comedy writer and filmmaker, he has emerged as a major influential force in Hollywood. […]
September 3, 2011 · 5:16 PM ↓ Jump to Comments Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life In the final scene of Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character, Isaac, is lying on the sofa with a microphone and a tape-recorder, dictating to himself an idea for a short story. It will be about “people in Manhattan,” he says, […]
John Whitehead in an article noted: Bacon, however, clearly expressed his atheistic pessimism: “Man now realizes that he is an accident, that he is a completely futile being, that he has to play out the game without purpose, other than of his own choosing.” On another occasion, he remarked: “We are born and we die […]
The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- I want to make two points today. 1. There is no […]
A review of the new Liam Neeson film, the grey, as iI say there may be some minor spoilers but nothing too drastic, enjoy and dont forget to comment, rate and subscribe
Cast: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson
In THE GREY, Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements — and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt — before their time runs out.
The Grey trailer courtesy Open Road Films.
__________________
The movie “The Grey” is filled with nihilism and here is the answer in the Book of Ecclesiastes to nihilism from Solomon himself. I follow that with an excellent riview of “The Grey” and some links to previous posts on nihilism. Also here is a link to some historical evidence showing how accurate and reliable the bible is.
Here is an article I wrote a couple of years ago:
Solomon, Woody Allen, Coldplay and Kansas
What does King Solomon, the movie director Woody Allen and the modern rock bands Coldplay and Kansas have in common? All four took on the issues surrounding death, the meaning of life and a possible afterlife, although they all came up with their own conclusions on these weighty matters.
Let me start off by pointing out what they all had in common. First, they were very successful and rose to the top of their fields. Second, they were very famous and of course, thirdly they were wealthy and experienced the privileges that fame and wealth brought. Finally, they were still seeking answers to life’s great questions even though it seemed they had experienced all the world had to offer.
Unlike many the past grammy winners of “Best Rock Album,” Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay is filled with songs that deal with spiritual themes such as death, the meaning of life and searching for an afterlife.
Leadsinger Chris Martin notes, “…because we’ve had some people close to us we’ve lost, but some miracles — we’ve got kids. So, life has been very extreme recently, and so both death and life pop up quite often” (MTV News interview, June 9, 2008).
Russ Briermeier of Christianity Today observes that this album is “often provocative, spiritual, and seemingly on the verge of identifying a greater truth, asking and inspiring many questions without providing the answers.” It reminded me of King Solomon’s search for answers in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. Solomon also dealt the subject of death a lot. Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 asserts, “It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time. Sorrow is better than laughter, it may sadden your face, but it sharpens your understanding.”
The subject of death is prominent in the songs “Poppyfields,” “Violet Hill,” “Death and All His Friends,” “42,” and the “Cemeteries of London.” Then the song “The Escapist” states, “And in the end, We lie awake and we dream, we’re makin our escape.” In the end we all die. Therefore, I assume this song is searching for an afterlife to escape to. The song “Glass of Water” sheds some more light on where we possibly escape to: “Oh he said you could see a future inside a glass of water, with riddles and the rhymes, He asked ‘Will I see heaven in mine?’
Coldplay is clearly searching for spiritual answers but it seems they have not found them quite yet. The song “42“: “Time is so short and I’m sure, There must be something more.” Then the song “Lost“: “Every river that I tried to cross, Every door I ever tried was locked, I’m just waiting til the shine wears off, You might be a big fish in a little pond, Doesn’t mean you’ve won, Because along may come a bigger one and you will be lost.”
Solomon went to the extreme in his searching in the Book of Ecclesiastes for this “something more” that Coldplay is talking about, but he did not find any satisfaction in pleasure (2:1), education (2:3), work (2:4), wealth (2:8) or fame (2:9). All of his accomplishments would not be remembered (1:11) and who is to say that they had not already been done before by others (1:10)? This reminds me of the big fish in the little pond that Coldplay was talking about. Even if you think you are on top, are you really? Also Solomon’s upcoming death depressed him because both people and animals alike “go to the same place — they came from dust and they return to dust” (3:20).
In 1978 I heard the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas when it rose to #6 on the charts. That song told me thatKerry Livgren the writer of that song and a member of Kansas had come to the same conclusion that Solomon had. I remember mentioning to my friends at church that we may soon see some members of Kansas become Christians because their search for the meaning of life had obviously come up empty even though they had risen from being an unknown band to the top of the music business and had all the wealth and fame that came with that. Furthermore, like Solomon and Coldplay, they realized death comes to everyone and “there must be something more.”
Livgren wrote:
“All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, Dust in the Wind, All we are is dust in the wind, Don’t hang on, Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky, It slips away, And all your money won’t another minute buy.”
Both Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope of Kansas became Christians eventually. Kerry Livgren first tried Eastern Religions and Dave Hope had to come out of a heavy drug addiction. I was shocked and elated to see their personal testimony on The 700 Club in 1981 and that same interview can be seen on youtube today. Livgren lives in Topeka, Kansas today where he teaches “Diggers,” a Sunday school class at Topeka Bible Church. Hope is the head of Worship, Evangelism and Outreach at Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, Florida.
The movie maker Woody Allen has embraced the nihilistic message of the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas. David Segal in his article, “Things are Looking Up for the Director Woody Allen. No?” (Washington Post, July 26, 2006), wrote, “Allen is evangelically passionate about a few subjects. None more so than the chilling emptiness of life…The 70-year-old writer and director has been musing about life, sex, work, death and his generally futile search for hope…the world according to Woody is so bereft of meaning, so godless and absurd, that the only proper response is to curl up on a sofa and howl for your mommy.”
The song “Dust in the Wind” recommends, “Don’t hang on.” Allen himself says, “It’s just an awful thing and in that context you’ve got to find an answer to the question: ‘Why go on?’ ” It is ironic that Chris Martin the leader of Coldplay regards Woody Allen as his favorite director.
Lets sum up the final conclusions of these gentlemen: Coldplay is still searching for that “something more.” Woody Allen has concluded the search is futile. Livgren and Hope of Kansas have become Christians and are involved in fulltime ministry. Solomon’s experiment was a search for meaning to life “under the sun.” Then in last few words in the Book of Ecclesiastes he looks above the sun and brings God back into the picture: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
You can hear Kerry Livgren’s story from this youtube link:
The Grey
A chilling adventure that builds to a compelling climax of faith vs. faithlessness.
David Roark | posted 1/27/2012 12:00AM
Midpoint in The Grey, while trying to survive a pack of wolves in Alaska’s wilderness, a group of men sit around a fire reflecting on their lives while literally staring death in face. One of them insists on the pertinence of faith and the existence of God in the midst of their suffering, while two others refute the claim and call his belief a “fairy tale,” claiming there’s no life after death. These opposing ideologies stand front and center of this chilling new adventure by writer-director Joe Carnahan (The A-Team). He puts the two ideas to the test in his grey and desolate wasteland, looking to see which prevails.
Liam Neeson stars as Ottway, an Irish hunter and one of the two men without faith. After surviving a plane crash in the freezing conditions of Alaska, he and a few members of an oil drilling team, including Diaz, an arrogant womanizer (Frank Grillo), and Talget, a passive family man (Dermot Mulroney), find themselves being hunted by a pack of wolves. Hopeless with nowhere to go, they do all they can to escape into a wooded area, which may or may not be a safe haven, but the wolves begin to take their lives, one by one.
A pack of men, about to meet a pack of something worse
Within these bleak circumstances, Ottway voluntarily becomes the leader because of his experience killing wolves. But even though he may be a trained hunter, he secretly faces problems of his own. In the opening sequence, we see him walk outside a bar and proceed to attempt suicide, with a rifle placed in his mouth, only to be distracted by the howl of a wolf in the distance. We learn that his inner struggles stem from his wife leaving him—and now he’s got hungry wolves circling for the kill. Much to fret about.
The film, adapted from the short story Ghost Walkers by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, weaves Ottway’s struggles together in redemptive fashion. Forced to be the leader and give hope to the rest of the men, despite his own feelings of hopelessness, Ottway faces his internal demons because of the external, fang-baring ones. Ironically, the dire circumstances act as a catalyst for his personal redemption.
Such optimism doesn’t extend to every character or the entire situation, so The Greyis hardly a morality tale. As the title implies an underlying moral ambiguity, the film often settles into a cynical outlook void of redemption and God. In many ways, these darker aspects actually trump the small, personal thread of Ottway finally coming to terms with the absence of his wife and, even more so, with his life.
Liam Neeson as Ottway, who has some issues
This nihilistic worldview and unbelief in God emerges first and foremost visually. Working with few colors, a range of grays and a fixed graininess, Carnahan gives his film dark and lifeless imagery that, in turn, creates a prevalently melancholic tone. He takes the same approach with the scenery. The cold, dreary climate, with no hope in sight and an enemy in the middle of it, further establishes it.
But the bleakest component of all is the wolves and their relentless attacks. In the course of all the blood, guts, and death, the question surfaces: Where is God and meaning in all of it? Like the wolves themselves, this rhetorical question runs rampantly throughout the story as the group becomes smaller and smaller, death after death, until a moment in which Ottway cries out to God, pleading for help. Desperate and facing death, he admits his need for a savior only to remark, “Fine, I’ll do it myself.” The scene epitomizes the moral haziness ofThe Grey, but it also leads the film into its gripping finale. Seamlessly paced with suspense and anticipation throughout—thanks in part to a vigorous score—the whole story points to this intense moment, putting Ottway face to face with the wolves and the alpha of the pack.
Diaz (Frank Grillo, right) and Ottway plan their next move
Neeson carries the film, bringing physical action and human emotion from start to finish. He balances out his tough, grizzly persona with a hurting, vulnerable side. His role, autobiographical in regard to the loss of wife three years ago, keeps the film grounded in humanity and, in the end, stops it from falling into cynicism, despite Ottway’s conflicted morality. In one scene, he looks at pictures of the families of men who died, thinking about his own wife. This moment of pure sentiment feels so personal, so transcendent.
Moments like these elevate the film from being just another action movie, or just another drama with lofty ideas yet no heart or soul. Even more, such moments almost provide enough clarity to keep it from being a complete moral vacuum. But as the film concludes and we seek hope, God, and life in the midst of the mess, we’re still left in The Grey.
One large marketing firm has prepared a “film companion” discussion guide for faith-based audiences; the guide explores the movie’s spiritual themes.
Talk About It Discussion starters
The film clearly pits two opposing ideologies, a belief and unbelief in God. In the end, which ideology prevails? Why?
How does Ottway deal with his wife leaving him through his circumstances (the weather and wolves)? What does he ultimately learn?
What does the film say about suffering? Why does God allow us to suffer, or does he? Can suffering change and mold us? How?
The Family Corner For parents to consider
The Grey is rated R for violence/disturbing content including bloody images, and for pervasive language. Throughout the movie, men are killed in bloody battles with wolves. Though violent and intense, these scenes move rapidly and chaotically, making them less graphic than they could be. The characters use excessive profanity, especially the f-word. But the language never proves to be exploitive or out of context.
Woody Allen interviews Billy Graham on Religion This article below makes we think of the lady tied to the Railroad in the Schaeffer video. Dr. Francis schaeffer – The flow of Materialism (Modern man sees no hope for the future and has deluded himself by appealing to nonreason to stay sane. Look at the example […]
Woody Allen and the Abandonment of Guilt Dr. Marc T. Newman : AgapePress Print In considering filmmaking as a pure visual art form, Woody Allen would have to be considered a master of the medium. From his humble beginnings as a comedy writer and filmmaker, he has emerged as a major influential force in Hollywood. […]
September 3, 2011 · 5:16 PM ↓ Jump to Comments Woody Allen on the Emptiness of Life In the final scene of Manhattan, Woody Allen’s character, Isaac, is lying on the sofa with a microphone and a tape-recorder, dictating to himself an idea for a short story. It will be about “people in Manhattan,” he says, […]
John Whitehead in an article noted: Bacon, however, clearly expressed his atheistic pessimism: “Man now realizes that he is an accident, that he is a completely futile being, that he has to play out the game without purpose, other than of his own choosing.” On another occasion, he remarked: “We are born and we die […]
The Bible and Archaeology (1/5) The Bible maintains several characteristics that prove it is from God. One of those is the fact that the Bible is accurate in every one of its details. The field of archaeology brings to light this amazing accuracy. _________________________- I want to make two points today. 1. There is no […]
INTRODUCTION TO APOLOGETICS
Do you know what you believe and why you believe it? If you are like most Christians, you are not as certain of the answer as you would like to be. In this lecture, R.C. explains that the science of apologetics is designed to aid Christians in the joyful task and responsibility of defending their faith.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the history and definition of apologetics.
2. To be encouraged to observe and imitate the Bible’s apologetical methods.
QUOTATIONS AND THOUGHTS
Logos: Greek, meaning “word” or “reason”. In Biblical Greek, especially in the book of John, it often refers to the Second Person of the Trinity. In early Greek philosophy, it was used to denote the supreme ordering force of the universe.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. What is apologetics? :
a) Apologetics is devoted to promoting an intellectual defense for truth claims, in this case the truth claims of the Christian faith.
b) It has no reference to apologizing for something you did wrong, though it comes from the same Greek root.
II. The Bible and Apologetics:
a) First Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”
b) The positive reason for apologetics is the sanctification of the Christian, but the negative one is to make non-Christians ashamed of attacking the Christian faith.
c) Justin Martyr wrote “The Apology” :-
– It was a response to the charges of sedition, cannibalism, and atheism by the Roman authorities.
– In 2001 John Ashcroft was forced to make a similar “apology” when he remarked, “We in America have no King but Jesus.”
– Christians have always responded intellectually and Biblically to the various cultural and political movements that questioned the reality of the Christian faith.
d. The Logos and Apologetics
+ Early apologists appealed to the logos concept to explain the nature of Jesus to the Greek culture.
+ Logos was used in philosophical discussions among the Stoics and Heraclitians to denote the primary organizing force of the universe.
+ The Apostle John picks up on this and uses this word to explain the nature of Christ to a primarily Greek-thinking culture. But he fills it with Hebrew content and theology.
+ There are significant points of contact between the Christian and non-Christian world, in this case, a semantic one.
+ Sensing this connection, Gordon Clark translates the first verse of John’s Gospel as, “In the beginning was logic, and logic was with God, and logic was God. And the logic became flesh and dwelt among us.”
III. It is the contributions of the early apologists in interacting with surrounding cultural ideas that provide the first clues for the content of apologetics. The rest of this course will explore the implications and applications of this example.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Houston’s publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
News of Houston’s death came on the eve of music’s biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It’s a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to cast a heavy pall on Sunday’s ceremony. Houston’s longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like “The Bodyguard” and “Waiting to Exhale.”
She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
“The biggest devil is me. I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy,” Houston told ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
“The time that I first saw her singing in her mother’s act in a club … it was such a stunning impact,” Davis told “Good Morning America.”
“To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine,” he added.
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with “Whitney Houston,” which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. “Saving All My Love for You” brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. “How Will I Know,” ”You Give Good Love” and “The Greatest Love of All” also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, “Whitney,” came out in 1987 and included hits like “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”
The New York Times wrote that Houston “possesses one of her generation’s most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity.”
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the “Soul Train Awards” in 1989.
“Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?” she told Katie Couric in 1996. “You’re not black enough for them. I don’t know. You’re not R&B enough. You’re very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them.”
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop’s pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
“When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place,” she told Rolling Stone in 1993. “You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that’s their image. It’s part of them, it’s not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody’s angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy.”
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America’s sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with “The Bodyguard.” Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You,” which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy’s record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the “Bodyguard” soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with “Waiting to Exhale” and “The Preacher’s Wife.” Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, “My Love Is Your Love,” in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut “It’s Not Right But It’s Okay.”
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time “The Preacher’s Wife” was released, “(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. … I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. … I wasn’t happy by that point in time. I was losing myself.”
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown’s reality show, “Being Bobby Brown,” was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared “crack is whack,” was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album “I Look To You.” The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on “Good Morning America” went awry as Houston’s voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.
It was so sad to lose these people so soon. The Curse of 27 This page is in response to my most frequently asked questions – is there really a Curse of 27, how many musicians actually died at that age, and who are they. When legendary Blues man, Robert Johnson, was killed at the age […]
A curve ball in the Amy Winehouse case. Troubled Brit singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in July. / AP FILE PHOTO Written by JILL LAWLESS, | Associated Press FILED UNDER Entertainment LONDON — The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her […]
Jim Morrison’s picture above. He died way too young and many of our young people turn to drugs and suicide because of loneliness. It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to this problem that […]
I have posted a lot about Amy before. Posted at 04:38 PM ET, 10/31/2011 Amy Winehouse releases posthumous album: why we keep listening after she stops singing By Jessica Goldstein Despite her death in July, Amy Winehouse will be releasing a new album: “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” this year. This is not a posthumous album of […]
There is a truth that many people know. You can die from drinking too much alcohol at one time. I remember like yesterday when AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott died while on tour in England in 1980. According to Wikipedia: On 19 February 1980, Scott, 33 at the time, passed out after a night of […]
Aaron Douglas played for Vols and Bama before dying because of drugs jh39 Aaron Douglas was a lineman for Alabama and I have already written about another Bama lineman by the name of Barrett Jones who was a teammate of Aaron’s. Here are the two links below: Barrett Jones of Alabama Crimson Tide (Part 1 […]
CHICAGO (AP) — Former Weezer bass player Mikey Welsh, who also found success in his second career as an artist, died in aChicago hotel room, police said Sunday. Chicago police spokeswoman Laura Kubiak said Welsh was supposed to check out of the Raffaello Hotel at 1 p.m. Saturday. When he didn’t, hotel staff went to his room, entered it and […]
I had the joy of attending the Yankee at Red Sox game that had the most runs ever in the series. It was truly amazing. The Yankees won 27 to 16. Below is an interesting story about one of the players I saw play that day.
Proof that you can lose a Super Bowl, and still gain a Youk. (AP)
It appears that two of Boston’s favorite sporting sons will soon be related by marriage. Boston Red Sox infielder/DH Kevin Youkilis is engaged to marry Julie Brady, the sister of some guy named Tom who happens to play quarterback for the New England Patriots. The Greek God of Walks first met Tom Terrific’s sister at a postgame party at Patriot Place in 2011, just after the New York Jets booted the Patriots out of the 2010 playoffs.
Youk was reportedly in the Brady suite at Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl XLVI to watch Tom’s Pats lose to that other New York team.
According to the Boston Herald, the couple dated for a year before deciding to tie the knot. The soon-to-be Mrs. Youk (or, in Boston parlance, ‘YOOOOOOOOUK!!!!’) is a schoolteacher, with a five-year-old daughter. Plans appear to be for the ceremony to happen in the offseason in California, where the Bradys are from.
“He’s really lucky,” a friend of Youk’s told the Herald. “She’s a really nice person, but all the Bradys are nice people.”
It will be her first marriage and his second — though his first officially. Youkilis was married — sort of — to Ben Affleck’s ex, Enza Sambataro, though the couple apparently never filed the required paperwork. We assume things will be better organized this time.
From a Boston fan perspective, both players could use a re-boot in terms of perception. Youk hit just .258 in 120 games for a disappointing Red Sox team, and there are some in Beantown who are unhappy enough with Brady’s inability to win the Super Bowl without competent receivers to call for the Brian Hoyer era. No, really.
Here’s what we don’t know about the future Mrs. Youk — if Red Sox fans bash his performance in her presence, will she pull a Gisele and fire right back in the direction of his teammates? We can but wait and see.
Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to www.vixy.net Below you will see several video clips. Evidently despite all the super bowl rings Brady is still looking for true satisfaction, and Danny […]
Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to www.vixy.net Below you will see several video clips. Evidently despite all the super bowl rings Brady is still looking for true satisfaction, and Danny […]
Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to www.vixy.net Below you will see several video clips. Evidently despite all the super bowl rings Brady is still looking for true satisfaction, and Danny […]
The Daily Hatch 