As we begin Part 3 of the movie, CamCam is back at GNN space command central, editing his footage of the mysterious man in the prophet costume. But this time, Mr. Fake Beard and Bathrobe is speaking in Hebrew. "What's he saying?" CamCam asks. "I don't know, it sounds like Hebrew," the mystery girl from Part 1 says. Several days have passed since we first saw her (I think), and she's wearing a different outfit, but she still has that... Read more
We cut to Chicago, a series of fades beginning with an aerial shot of downtown and ending in the interior of the Steele's suburban bathroom, where Rayford is looking at himself in the mirror. The soundtrack blares the title song, "Left Behind," by Bryan Duncan, which is worth mention here since it's a near-perfect introduction to the frustrating Mr. Duncan: great pipes, capably derivative but dated musical style, insipid lyrics. This song, recorded in 2000, is not intentionally retro or... Read more
Call me a square, friend, I don't care … "Baby Baby," The Swirling Eddies"Baby Game," Daniel Amos"Baby I'm a Star," Prince"Baby It's Cold Outside," Ray Charles and Betty Carter"Baby, Just Be Yourself," The Pipettes"Baby on Board," The Be Sharps"Baby Plays Around," Elvis Costello"Baby Watch Your Back," Nellie McKay"Baby, What's Wrong With You," Crooked Still"Baby Why?" Green Bonus: "B-A-B-Y," Carla Thomas I appreciate Prince's touchiness on the subject of copyright — once you lose your own name in a legal battle,... Read more
Over on Christianity Today’s Politics Blog, Sarah Pulliam asks “Can Obama Call Himself a Christian?” The asking, and particularly the answering, of that question is — to borrow a phrase — way above Pulliam’s pay grade. Here, I think, is the relevant passage from Matthew’s Gospel: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the... Read more
Thanks for the feedback on the previous post. My guess is that once the situation gets to the point that Citigroup is at, planning to lay off 53,000 workers, then it's too late for any kind of union — labor, shareholder or otherwise — to make much difference. The larger difficulty is probably that I'm looking for a shortcut to the kind of democratic management one might get from employee-ownership and that shortcut may not actually exist. Still, building alliances... Read more
I'm asking for the assistance and indulgence of the hive-mind of the blogosphere here. I'm trying to figure out whether this is a new idea with potential or an old, flawed one with obvious difficulties that I probably should have recognized before wasting our time with this post. So anyway, I'm posting this story last night for the paper, and idly wondering how the 53,000 layoffs announced by Citigroup — 15 percent of its workforce — compares in size to... Read more
For my first job out of college, I was hired as a fund manager. Sort of. I landed an internship with a Protestant denomination as an assistant in their Social and Ethical Responsibility in Investments program. My official title was SER Associate, though around the office I was usually just called "the intern." Part of the intern's duties was overseeing the denomination's portfolio of what they called alternative investments. This was money invested not just to maximize financial return, but... Read more
Left Behind: The Movie has conveniently been divided into 11 parts for posting on YouTube. This neatly provides us with stopping points as well as the ability to watch together as we work our way through the movie. We have some cause for optimism as we begin. Yes, there’s the Kirk Cameron factor, but that might not be insurmountable. Lost Boys featured both Coreys, and who doesn’t like Lost Boys? And as bad as the source material for this movie... Read more
Well now everything dies, baby, that's a fact, but maybe … "Atlantic City," The Band"Atlantic City," Bruce Springsteen"Atomic Dog," George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic"Attagirl," Bettie Serveert"Attractions," Charlie Sexton"Auctioneer (Another Engine)," R.E.M."Audrey," Mike Roe"Australia," The Shins"Autograph," Green"Autographs for the Sick," Daniel Amos That Mike Roe track is from Demonstrations of Love, the benefit album Dwight Ozard put together for Prism magazine. Three years ago today, Dwight lost his battle with multiple myeloma and died at the too-young age of 43. "Don't... Read more
I don't want to rehash the whole normative vs. descriptive debate we had over the term "un-American," but voters in California disappointed me last week by behaving in a very un-Californian manner and voting for Proposition 8. This was a ballot measure attempting to clarify the meaning of the state's constitution, restricting the application of certain "rights" to only certain Californians and not to others. The word rights is in scare quotes there necessarily because that word cannot be made... Read more
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