Michael Moore Conference Call

After seeing the Fahrenheit 9/11 movie, I've been engaged in a fair amount of email conversation to which I will post some links below. I also want to give you a link where, if you have sound capability on your computer, you can listen to the comments that Michael Moore made to around 55,000 people who gathered at various meet-ups and house parties across the country.

JAFAX 9

I drove my kids (three of them) to an anime convention yesterday morning. JAFAX 9 is the ninth annual gathering of anime fans to gather at Grand Valley State University, where my daughter is a student (sophomore in September.)

It's worth mentioning here because anime is such a potent cultural force with many of our young people (and not only them either.) I'm not going to get into a big description of the anime phenomenon - I don't really know that much about it other than what I've casually picked up from watching some shows with my kids, and what I've seen the past few years at the JAFAX meetings. But there sure are a lot of kids out there who seem pretty deeply invested in their fantasy lives, even to the point of doing a lot of dressing up, hair dying and other bodily expressions of devotion to favorite characters in the shows they watch so devotedly.

After wandering the tables and concluding that there wasn't really anything I felt like buying among all the wares I saw for sale, I decided to take in some free video. I watched snippets of several shows but nothing met the futuristic high-tech robotic or Matrix-y stuff that I was in the mood for - it was mostly "cute girl stuff" or slow moving dramas that required attendance at the beginning and sustained attention to know what was going on. I almost settled on watching a screening of Kurosawa's Yojimbo, or just watching a Soul Calibur video game tournament. But I found one program, Otaku no Video, that was actually about over-obsessed anime fans in Japan, including people who carve their own anime figurines from scratch and a guy who steals film cells and sells them on the black market. It was quite an interesting portrait of how gripping this artform can be, and makes me want to understand more about it - especially since my own children seem to have been bitten by the bug (though they don't get into the full costume extremes that I saw plenty of yesterday!)

Just fyi, my own anime collection only includes one film, "Grave of the Fireflies" which is really more of an antiwar statement than an example of Japanese anime at it's finest - though it is a very well animated feature on a purely aesthetic level...

Father's Day

Even though it's out of chronological sequence, now that I just posted my review of Fahrenheit 9/11, I should also mention that my wonderful children got me the four-DVD box set of Michael Moore's "The Awful Truth" TV series that ran back at the end of the Clinton administration. What a great gift for a dad! Makes my heart so proud! :o)

Fahrenheit 9/11

Just got back from seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 and it lived up to my expectations, actually surpassed them in the way that I was moved emotionally at several points in the film.

People who are sensitive to seeing the suffering of others should be forewarned: this film may overload your empathy circuits.

Michael Moore does an excellent job summing up so many of the reasons that I and many others were against the war in Iraq from the get-go and continue to feel so upset and grief-stricken about what's happened to our nation since 9/11/01. Some critics will probably be quick to point out various flaws or inaccuracies in some of the stats and details that Moore puts on screen, but I don't see how anyone can argue substantively with the power of the images themselves or the human voices who put the pictures in context.

There are so many profound points raised in the film, so many aspects of my own life, concerns and priorities touched on in different ways. There aren't many movies I've seen lately that I found as gripping and fascinating, but one thing with watching Michael Moore films is that one can easily get caught up in the rapid flow of information so that the mind-blowing implications of what is being portrayed on the screen almost seem common-place or routine. Like we just get desensitized to the distortions and assumptions made by so many of the key figures in the Iraq war. It's the kind of film for which one would like to have access to a remote control so that one can pause to reflect on the previous segment before moving on to the next one. Or stop for discussion with the other people watching it.

Like Bowling for Columbine and Moore's other documentary work, F9/11 is a clarifying documentary that exposes much about the times we live in, and IMO gives us an opportunity to reconsider just what is happening around us, what priorities have emerged in our society to make our citizens behave the way we do?

I don't really want to describe too much about the details of the movie yet, so as to avoid blunting the impact for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. I hope that non-liberals would be willing to check this movie out, because I think it says things that all well-informed Americans (and others) need to hear and consider. Yes, it's political and polemical and I don't think anyone can defend the movie as anything close to unbiased, objective reporting. It's confrontational and even propagandistic, but I see Moore as genuinely concerned for the common people of the world and as one of them, I appreciate his willingness to take all the flak and break through the barriers that often make our voices hard to hear by the "haves and have mores" who some call "the elite" but Bush calls "my base."

Go see this movie, take some friends, and pray that our generation and those to come will be able to learn wisdom through the folly of these times!

Simon and Garfunkel

This past Saturday, Julie and I went back to our moonlighting gig at the Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, where we worked the concession stands while a folk duo going by the name of "Simon and Garfunkel" happened to be on stage in front of a crowd of 8000 people or so...

It was a pretty cool event, all in all. We got there early and got to peek in a bit on their soundcheck before a roadie on the arena floor shooed us away. There they were, short li'l Paul Simon and tall gangly Art Garfunkel, harmonizing smoothly on the same verse and chorus segment of "I Am A Rock" over and over again, for about a half hour before they finally got it to sound like they wanted it to. A fine extended remix done live, I guess we could say. The tune was not as musically punchy as the '60's original - it actually had kind of an easy listening feel to it which got me wondering just how fogey-ish the concert would be. Let's face it, these guys are getting up there in years and they were never exactly known for their ability to rock out anyway. They are PBS telethon fund-raiser favorites, after all.

And I do have to say, of the different performers we've heard at the Van Andel, they were easily the most laid back and quiet. (That is, compared to the Eagles, Shania Twain and Metallica!) There were portions of the show that were honestly hard to hear when we were working the booth - mostly their banter between songs but also some of their simple guitar accompaniment numbers. I imagine the audience was entranced by the subtle intimacy of the moment, but we got impatient in the early portions of the show. Of course, we all have our favorite S & G songs - mine being "Cecilia," "Mrs. Robinson," "The Boxer," "El Condor Pasa," and as I think about it there are so many others, songs that I grew listening to my mom play on our old wooden console LP stereo system that constituted not just an audio playback device but was indeed a major piece of furniture that was regularly dusted and polished and almost as long as a sofa. "Feelin' Groovy," "Scarborough Fair," lots more. I would say that they pretty much got to all the big ones, the essential stuff, but no Paul Simon solo material which was OK because they have a couple of hours of solid material just from their duet days.

My personal highlight was watching them perform "Bridge Over Troubled Waters." It was really exciting and dramatic, sneaking a peek through the curtain, watching them each sing their solo portion, then come to the mikes together for the "Sail on silverbird" portion that led to the stirring finale. As that line was uttered, the audience just stood up spontaneously, anticipating of course the glorious moments to come as the music and vocals built to their climax. It's such a striking song, one that by virtue of its lyrics and inspirational tone has come to mean a lot to so many different people, for gifts of strength, patience and endurance through innumerable losses, crises and grievings. I couldn't help but think about what so many of us were identifying with as we saw the dudes themselves, the real Simon and the real Garfunkel, sing that song just for us! Quite a buzz, a strong rush of emotions being felt by so many at that particular moment, and I was feeling very privileged to be a part of it.

The Everly Brothers also made a brief cameo appearance, singing "Wake Up Little Suzie," "Dream" and "Bye Bye Love."

Other than that, though, the night was not so smooth. Way too many glitches with equipment and food supplies. The popcorn popper had a broken seal and was burning cooking oil, almost smoking out the back room before we got it under control. We couldn't get the french fry machine's pilot light lit until about 15 minutes before the doors opened. We had a lot of problems with the beer delivery system. We lost significant sales because the brew was coming out flat and sour. Huge bummer! It was the night before Father's Day, a nice summer weekend, prime wedding season, and apparently a lot of the Van Andel regulars were not working that night, so our problems were not addressed and corrected very quickly. Our next concert is Incubus, on July 7, back to the metallic rock, which is fine by me. I like Incubus a bit, I have their latest CD, and the Vines are opening for them too - I'm looking forward to it! But Julie won't be working that gig - not her cup o' tea!

Ian Lawton

This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of a personal meeting with Ian Lawton, the newly installed "Executive and Minister of Worship and Theological Inquiry" of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan. We met at a restaurant located approximately halfway between our respective homes, "Sam's Joint." The purpose of our meeting was just to get to know each other. As I've written here recently, I'm quite intrigued by what Ian brings to the church, which has a well-established reputation as one of the more independent, creative and innovative (not to mention liberal) congregations in this area, and perhaps anywhere.

After speaking with Ian and hearing a bit more about his reasons for relocating his family from New Zealand in order to take this position, I find that last claim to be more plausible than I might have otherwise thought. At least, he seems to think that CCC is quite unique, in terms of its openness to exploring the frontiers of theology in an open setting, not bound by tradition or other strong dogmatic considerations. Not having explored the landscape to any degree comparable to what I imagine he has, I have no reason to disagree with his conclusions.

The evening consisted of me telling him about myself, my past and current experiences, sharing with him some of my beliefs, notions and ideas about Christianity, theology, human spirituality and consciousness, and my past involvements with various churches over the years. I heard about his impressions of American culture, how his transition to the new job has gone, a bit about his personal and family background, and a fair amount of what he envisions for CCC. He is a man of ideas, but also a very candid, accessible, positive-minded person who I feel has a gift he's discovered and wants to share with others. That doesn't mean he seeks to make it "easy" for others to receive that gift - I imagine that his ministry will present a lot of substantial challenges to many in his congregation. He doesn't seem all that concerned with being traditional or incorporating certain "essentials" from the Christian tradition simply for the sake of mollifying those who are inclined to use a doctrinal or theological yardstick to the order of worship. He confided to me some of the feedback he's received from attenders that could be seen as critical or otherwise objectionable to some of the content of his message. It seemed to me that he was neither wounded nor dismissive of these observations, but simply takes them into account and ponders how such a response should or could affect where he goes from here. He's made it clear to the church that they play a big part in charting the future course of the church, though I hardly see him as being merely passive or going with a simple "majority rules" style of leadership. He will bring stimulating content, vision and challenge to the congregation, but it looks like it will be consistently interactive as the course becomes more defined and focused in weeks and months to come.

As to the question of my personal involvement in CCC, he mentioned that there are a number of people, two or three dozen, who make the trip in from Grand Rapids on at least a semi-regular basis. He intends to connect me via email with some of them, though this hasn't happened yet, as of Saturday afternoon. I'm not in a huge hurry anyway, but I am pleased with the prospect. As much as I enjoy the companionship of my on-line "pomoxian friends" I look forward to connecting in some way with people closer to home that share my theological interests. It would be nice if a few of them joined the list... Another aspect of Ian's vision that highly intrigues me is his previous experience of setting up "virtual congregations" and e-zines in his previous position in New Zealand. Apparently there is some interest in expanding the reach of the CCC website and I would really like to be a part of that. Perhaps even to the point of grafting my PoMoXian.com website into their domain, or setting up some other kind of relationship. Maybe as a content provider or something along those lines.

There was a lot of other stuff we talked about over the course of a couple hours, but some of it was personal and I want to be discreet rather than just blab it all over the internet. I think that what I've written above gives a good flavor of the conversation and is for the most part suitable for public dissemination, not giving away any more than is proper or portraying Ian or CCC in an unfair manner. I left the get-together feeling very pleased to have met Ian and very much looking forward to what develops from this point out. I also left the restaurant without my cell-phone, driving about 10 miles down the freeway (about half the distance back home) before I discovered, but fortunately, the busboy at Sam's Joint was an honest fellow and kept the phone in a safe place until I made my way back there to pick it up! :o)

Pistons Win

OK, I admit, I am totally a fair-weather fan and a bandwagon jumper too, but I did go out to a sports bar on Tuesday night to meet some friends from work and watch the Detroit Pistons clinch the NBA championship. I don't have a whole lot to say about it - I'm not going to fake like I've been behind them all the way, or break down the individual awesomeness of various players who helped the team achieve its victory. I enjoy watching Ben Wallace play, and watching the last couple of series I've grown to appreciate others on the team, but basically, I could care less about the NBA overall. I'm a baseball-and-football guy, those are the only two sports that I really care about, though I maintain awareness of who the winners are in the other major games, just to make conversation as needed. And actually, the most exciting part of this whole playoffs process was two weeks prior to Tuesday, when the Pistons came from behind to beat the Pacers and win their spot in the Finals. I picked up a night shift at work that evening to fill a sick call, and we went out for a beer afterwards just to chat and unwind a little, and it just happened to be Game Six of the conference championship series. The sports bar, Ucello's, was packed that night, and our table was right at the base of this awesome big screen plasma monitor, where I probably had the best experience of HDTV that I've had to this point in my life. So it felt to us like we were in an extension of the Palace of Auburn Hills, the crowd was totally pumped, the game was close and the Pistons pulled out the win at the last minute. Compared to that adrenaline rush, this Finals win was, by the time of Game Five, a march to the inevitable - the will of the Lakers had been broken in Games Three and Four, and after that, it was a foregone conclusion that Detroit would sweep at home and celebrate in front of their fans. And I have to admit that it was enjoyable for me and many others to watch the Lakers sit all glum faced on their bench as they saw the trophy they thought was reserved for them slip through their fingers.

So next fall we get to watch the Pistons try to defend their title. Maybe I will pay a little more attention to the NBA next season. But probably not much.

Michigan's Adventure

I took a group of clients that I work with up to the Michigan's Adventure amusement park this past Monday as a celebration of the recently completed school year. We had a pretty fun time of it even though our activities were interrupted by a strong rain/thunder storm for about 45 minutes, right after we finished eating lunch. Fortunately, most of us were in our swim suits because we were going to get on the water slides that make up half of the park. After the storm cleared up, the lines were knocked down quite a bit, to the point where we could just walk on to any of the rides, including the great Shivering Timbers, which is one of the outstanding roller coasters I've ever been on (though it would only be a mid-level attraction at Cedar Point.) Michigan's Adventure is a cool park to have nearby (less than an hour's drive) but IMO it could use at least one more killer ride. The other coasters are smallish, decent warm-ups for novices, but not worth my time if it weren't for the fact that I'm there with kids who need to build up their courage to go on "the big one."

The park is actually much better for water slides - they have a great many of them, and they are fun. At least, I haven't been on them so often in my life that I'd be jaded by now, which is somewhat the case with roller coasters... Anyway, it was a successful trip all in all, and I had some good times with my co-workers and a few of the clients too.

Christ Community Church, 6/13/04

I attended a "regular" worship service at CCC for the first time today - I've visited on several occasions when they've featured noted speakers, but I am intrigued with their new minister, Ian Lawton, who is closer to me in age than the soon-to-retire Richard Rhem. A combination of events impresses upon me that this may be a good time to seriously explore the possibility of developing a closer relationship with this unique congregation.

So this morning's service featured, instead of a sermon, a dialogue between Ian and Dick, one of what appears to be a series of such talks regarding the future of CCC. This is a large church, seemingly well-endowed financially, and cutting a prominent profile in many ways, with plenty of attending controversy along the way. I'm drawn to the ability to "really get things done," something that I've too often found lacking in the smaller fellowships and meetings that I've attended over the past several years as I've searched for a church home.

One other thing beside the dialogue that I found striking was an enactment of Nietzsche's "Parable of the Madman" which I recommend you to follow the link and read. The parable's implications were not denounced from the pulpit, interestingly enough. The challenge of Nietzsche was left intact for the congregation to wrestle with, and that gesture in and of itself earned a lot of my respect - I really appreciate a church that is willing to engage its members as adults capable of critical thinking and not needing a spoon-fed tidy feel-good message.

Ian and I plan on meeting for more extended conversation later this week - I'm looking forward to that, and will offer a discreet report of our chat after it happens.

But now it's time to go watch Pedro Martinez (my fantasy baseball team's ace) try to shut down the Dodgers and see if the Pistons can continue to stifle the once-mighty Lakers so that they have a shot at winning the NBA championship on their home court on Tuesday!

Chronicles of Riddick

Friday night was Julie's monthly Creative Memories get-together, where she and several friends/relatives get together in our basement family room (aka computer lab - we have four units networked down here) to work on their scrapbook/photo albums. Alyssa was working so that left me and the boys looking for something to do, and our choice was to go see the new Vin Diesel movie, "Chronicles of Riddick." It's an action-oriented sci-fi flick, sequel to a film I haven't seen yet titled "Pitch Black."

Here's the plot run-down: it's apparently set in the future of human history, but it takes place in other solar systems and maybe galaxies - that's never clarified. The technology is pretty advanced for space travel, but the weapons and armor look much more ancient, kind of Roman or Etruscan in style, but much more ornate, mainly because that kind of stuff looks so much cooler than the sleek synthetic fabriced uniforms worn by our descendants in 60's and 70's futuristic movies. A race of evil warriors called the Necromongers is out on a campaign of conquest, which relies equally on their fearsome military power and the unyielding demands of their religion. To become a part of the Necromonger faith (cult?), one has to pass through an ordeal where spikes are driven into the sides of one's neck, and then after that, apparently the new convert becomes utterly submissive and supportive of the Necromonger empire. That's how their armies were developed in the first place - by forcing the survivors of conquered planets to bow or die. So there's this religious angle at work here, presumably intended to be a commentary of sorts on how religion is used in our times as a tool of empire and oppression...

The character Riddick is more of a loner, an outlaw who really wants to have nothing to do with all the power games played by the various civilizations in conflict. But he's enlisted by a queen (that's what I'll call her anyway) of the Elementals, a ghost-like species that can kind of appear and disappear at will. She's played by Judi Dench who is respected as a serious actress, but according to the TV Guide Channel, she and Vin are pals - he wanted her in the movie and she was eager to take the role, do something different. Personally, I don't think she had to work too hard to pull off her part. Seeing her among all the CGI scenery and ornery looking brawlers was kind of unique.

Well all this plot set up basically just provides a reason to create a long string of stunts and video-game action sequences that I found entertaining enough in it's context, watching it with a bunch of teenage boys and a theater full of geeks who seem to enjoy this kind of thing. Some of it was absurd but nothing that I'm not used to seeing at the movies, often in films that aim to make a more serious point along the way. It does appear that the filmmaker is aiming to make this a series - the ending pretty much demands some kind of a sequel - maybe a graphic novel if the box office returns aren't quite strong enough to justify a third installment in the adventures of Riddick (ulous.)

Live in Concert: Glass Harp!

I had the rare and distinctive privilege of seeing a phenomenal rock band in concert last night. Glass Harp is a power trio that released three albums back in the early 70's and provided the springboard for Phil Keaggy to become one of the legendary founding figures of the contemporary Christian music scene. The band broke up when Phil and the other members couldn't agree on just how far to go in becoming a "Christian" band. The group always had Christian themes quite apparent in their lyrics, but they played in secular arenas, opening for many mainstream rock bands. Keaggy is an amazingly gifted guitarist and the band itself were seen as promising stars in the making, due to their impressive ability to jam and improvise with the best of 'em. In fact, Glass Harp just this past Thursday released a 3 CD set called "Stark Raving Jams" that features over three hours of them winging it in various settings, in recordings going back to 1970 on up to last year (2003.)

The band members are now reunited, and released an all-new studio CD last year, titled Hourglass. They only play occasional gigs, mostly in the Midwest it seems (they're originally from Ohio.) This year their "summer tour" consists of six concerts, and one of them was just a 5 minute drive from my house, at a little club called The Intersection, where I saw the English band Spiritualized last October. (And that band is a whole 'nother story in itself.)

So Julie and I went there last night, thrilled to see Phil Keaggy again - we've been to over a dozen of his concerts over the years, I'd imagine, and I am really glad that he has such a strong connection to Grand Rapids due to the Christian publishing/media establishment in this city. Plus some of his favorite guitar makers live close to here so he's come around about as regularly as a fan could ever hope. But usually he does solo shows, just him and his guitar and his assortment of effects boxes, e-bows and other toys that make his guitar do funky amazing things - though most of the magic is in his fingers. (He only has nine, missing the same middle finger on his right hand that Jerry Garcia lost.)

I can't capture in words how much fun we had or how remarkable the band's performance was - it was a "you had to be there" moment, which we and a few hundred others totally enjoyed. So I will just say, follow the links and consider purchasing a CD - the website should have some good sound samples available if you want to hear what they do before putting the money down. But I'll say, Glass Harp does it all - sensitive ballads, flat out rockers, crazy spacy lead guitar excursions, even a vintage arena-rock drum solo that really had me grinning as I recalled sitting through so many of those back in the day... Yeah, it was a really cool night and I feel very blessed to have had the chance to follow Phil Keaggy's career as a fan for all these years.

Festival 2004

Just got back from a brief visit to Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts, or just "Festival" as we call it around here. Saw an emo punk band on Rosa Parks Circle and a Christian praise band just up the street on the Monroe plaza. Lots of people all outside enjoying the nice evening weather, good food, and the whole spectacle of crowds milling about, folks putting on some style and fashion, it was a nice time. Maybe we'll spend more time down there tomorrow. I had to get out of the house, I was going to be a part of a book discussion on Webber's The Younger Evangelicals but the meeting was cancelled and I just didn't feel like sitting at home tonight. So Festival provided a good alternative. Only Brandon felt like going with me, and he walked away with my car keys, but I was able to find him in the crowd after he and I had gone separate ways for awhile when he met up with some friends. So I got home, and I'm OK with just hanging out around here for awhile again. Got some gardening work to do in the morning, then at night Julie and I are going to go see Glass Harp live in concert, which will be really extra super duper cool!

The Day After Tomorrow

My family got free passes to see this new Hollywood disaster flick so we went last night, after Julie and Alyssa got back from working at Flowerland.

This movie is your basic big-budget, flashy graphics, no brainer popcorn-munching summertime distraction. I didn't have big hopes for the film, understanding its genre and reading a few of the reviews as well. The premise is that global warming leads to unpredictable changes in the weather more drastic and sudden than anyone could have imagined. Of course, the new ice age had to come upon us with intense ferocity and immediacy, or else we wouldn't have had the chance to see L.A. and New York City destroyed in their prime.

The effects shots were cool, for what they were - devastating tornadoes shredding up landmark buildings in Los Angeles, sending busses and debris flying everywhere; floods burbling up from the sewers of Manhattan, followed by immense walls of water engulfing the jammed streets and skyscrapers of the Big Apple. And there were plenty of other regions that got hit hard - Tokyo, Scotland and so on. That was all skillfully rendered and interesting enough to look at. But the story itself was dopey and full of so many implausibilities, mainly in the interest of setting up dramatic situations that would be resolved just in the nick of time, or would lead to some supposed emotional payoff (reunion of father and son, valiant sacrifice of self in order to save others, etc.) If I had found myself identifying with or caring about the characters, this might have been more effective, but most of them were just cut-out figures, developed it seems to appeal to the supposed broad demographic of conventional cinema-goers. Unfortunately, the cliches that screenwriters resorted to have just played themselves out so much over the years that I could not help but feel like everyone involved was simply going through the motions, providing audiences what they comfortably expect to see in these end-o-th'-world epics.

My interest here isn't in giving a comprehensive review of the film so I won't go on too much longer. One significant interest I had in the movie was how well it served to promote a "pro-environmentalist" message. I think it tried to do that, and made an earnest effort to portray the conversion of a skeptical Cheney-like Vice President into someone who now understands the seriousness of what the tree huggers were trying to tell him all along. But the story is so exaggerated and goofy that it's pretty easy to dismiss the threat now if one is so inclined. I guess it puts environmental considerations into the public debate as far as pop culture entertainment is concerned, but it also puts climate change in the same category as alien invasion ("Independence Day") and asteroid strikes ("Armageddon" and "Deep Impact") as the fodder of movie spectacle.