¬† I recently overheard someone referring to my new book as “Australia’s Colors.” Now, please… let me set this straight once and for all: Auralia’s Colors has absolutely nothing to do with Australia. And speaking of Australia… I was welcomed to a radio program based in Australia last week to discuss Through a Screen Darkly. The show host was Sheridan Voysey, a true professional, who reads his notes before he sits down at the microphone. His show is called Open... Read more
So, there I was. Sitting at my desk, writing a movie review for Response magazine’s website. Out the window in front of me, the courtyard was thrashing in October wind and rain. Leave of extraordinary colors were breaking free and forming a dance of intertwining cyclones. Students dashed by on their way to class. One student, a woman I have never seen before, passed by. She was leaning forward and intent on her way to class. But as she passed... Read more
What have the women of Sufjan Stevens’ band been smoking? Last year, Shara Worden burst onto the scene as My Brightest Diamond, with such fierce imagination and spirit that you wondered how she could have possibly been anybody’s backup singer without blowing everybody else offstage. The debut, Bring Me the Workhorse, is still one of my favorite albums of the last few years. And now we find out there were two of them. (more…) Read more
If you can ignore the dumbass psycho-fans shouting the most ridiculous things they can imagine into the camera’s microphone… then you might get a bit of a thrill by watching Bruce Springsteen join The Arcade Fire for: (more…) Read more
When I was a kid, one of my favorite storybooks was… Wait, let me start again. One of my favorite storybooks is Where the Wild Things Are. (Forget the part about “when I was a kid.” It’s still true. If a story is good, a reader will never “outgrow” it.) But there is not nearly enough in Maurice Sendak’s surreal book to fill a feature film. Thus, I have felt apprehensive, even depressed, over the inevitability of a revised and... Read more
In the latest discussion at The Kindlings Muse, Dick Staub stirs up discussion of new releases, DVDs and “films everybody should see.” I had the privilege of being at that round table, along with Jennie Spohr, film producer and producer of The Kindlings Muse, and Stefan Ulstein, professor of film at Northwest University and author of Growing Up Fundamentalist. (more…) Read more
I know that many of my fellow Christians are so convinced that J.K. Rowling is a servant of Satan that they won’t be persuaded by anything as insignificant as… oh… the author’s own words about her faith. But I’m encouraged that the conversation about Rowling’s perspective and beliefs is still moving. Maybe eventually it will persuade a few souls to stop protesting and start listening. Maybe it will inspire others to stop and try to count just how many young... Read more
Before Pixar’s Ratatouille opened, the grumbling began in the industry, saying that it was too smart for kids, too sophisticated to be another Pixar smash-hit. And when it failed to break records immediately, it was quickly a subject of scandal. Was Pixar slipping? Was their focus on storytelling rather than merchandise-friendly entertainment going to cause them to slide from the lofty heights of movie storytelling? (more…) Read more
A while back, maybe a year or two, I saw some photographs in the newspaper that revealed a new wax likeness of Brad Pitt for the famous Madame Tussaud’s museum. My how far he’s come. It seems like only yesterday that a feisty actor with a roguish grin showed up in Thelma and Louise, and then earned comparisons to the young Robert Redford in A River Runs Through It. Since then, Pitt has blazed his own trail through Hollywood history... Read more
On Wednesday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Fremont Branch of the Seattle Public Library, I’ll be reading from Auralia’s Colors, and paying tribute to writers like Madeleine L’Engle, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Richard Adams, J.K. Rowling, and others. I’ll also answer questions and sign copies of Auralia’s Colors. And hey… free admission! Read more
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