Category: Media

March 19th, 2006 Caption Contest

My brother recently hijacked his wife’s blog to initiate a caption contest. I liked it, so of course I plan to imitate it. Here is my offering, taken at a recent trip to the Fort Worth zoo.

Captions, anyone?

December 3rd, 2005 What’s playing in Jay’s iPod?

In an effort to fend off Google, I’ll not quote any of the lyrics this time around, but rather provide a few elusive clues. Here we go.

1) the album is named after a piece of music originally written for a play in the 1800’s

2) the band does a guitar-centric rendition of the the aforementioned piece of music as an introduction to a song the is loosely based on the play

3) On subsequent albums, the band added a lot of piano to their metal sound creating this bizarre, but strangely interesting, rock opera sound

4) Oddly enough, most people are familiar with the band, but don’t know it

Okay, any guesses?

Updated 12/4/2005
Better add some more clues.

5) The bands 10th album (which also happens to be in my iPod) is a story set during the Balkan wars of the early 1990’s

6) The band’s name appears to be an early 80’s attempt to mash together two “dangerous” sounding words

7) Okay, let’s expand Clue #4. The band has an alter-ego, another band that focuses on Christmas music.

November 4th, 2005 Some Thanksgiving Reading

I referenced this book last year on our Thanksgiving Day post. This year I thought I’d mention it sooner in the season so you could look for it at your local library (I see our local system does in fact have a couple copies available!) or favorite local or web bookstore (click on image to purchase it at Amazon).

I purchased and read this to the children last year to give them an introduction to the Thanksgiving holiday. I think it is a fine addition to our library, and recommend it highly. I was delighted to learn it had received the honor of being named a Caldecott Honor book.

It follows one Pilgrim family’s journey from England to America and documents the hardships the Pilgrims endured to make a home in this new land where they could worship God as they felt they ought. It is told simply enough for beginning readers to enjoy on their own, yet also does a great job of not oversimplifying the story. Our two eldest (aged 3 and 5 last year) old loved the book and its beautiful illustrations. Alice Dalgliesh has presented us with a wonderful account of the first Thanksgiving, helping children to gain an awareness of where this special holiday originated, and why we take time on this day each year to thank God for His blessings to us.

We’ll enjoy this book again this year, and for many years to come.

November 2nd, 2005 Blast From the Past

This morning when my carpooler picked Abigail up for school, I heard a sort of familiar tune coming from her car stereo. It took me a second or two to place it and then I exclaimed to her, “I had this record when I was a little girl! I loved it!” She said that she had it too as a child and enjoyed it, and had picked it up for her kids to listen to now.

I hadn’t thought of this album in years so I got out on the web and it turns out they don’t sell the record anymore - big surprise! But you can get it on cassette or cd: It’s called the Music Machine and here is the best price I could find for the cd online, new ($6.99).

The album is about a boy and girl who learn all about the Fruits of the Spirit through a series of songs that this Magical Music Machine creates. The song that had been playing in Elizabeth’s car was one of my favorites, about a little snail named Herbert who races around impatiently doing everything in “double time”, not at all appropriate for a proper snail. His father takes him aside and speaks to him about being patient. Hmmm…that’s one of the Fruits of the Spirit I struggle with probably more than any!

I found some music clips online:

This clip is from the song about Faith:

The second is from the Patience song- this portion of the song is the slow part, sung by Herbert’s father.

The rest of the music clips can be found here. It was really fun to listen to all these and realize I remember almost EVERY lyric to these songs I probably first heard about 26 years ago!

So, tell me: did any of you have this record as kids??

November 25th, 2004 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Here is hoping all of you enjoyed a peaceful day of Thanksgiving with loved ones. We spent the day at Jay’s folks’ and had a wonderful time. Given the context of a holiday spent with young children, I felt it was quite relaxed. Kudos are in order for Grammy Ruth on a most delectably succulent turkey: indeed, one of the best we’ve ever eaten!

A month ago I purchased this book which I read to the children to give them an introduction to the Thanksgiving holiday. I think it is a fine addition to our library, and recommend it highly. I was delighted to learn it had received the honor of being named a Caldecott Honor book.

It follows one Pilgrim family’s journey from England to America and documents the hardships the Pilgrims endured to make a home in this new land where they could worship God as they felt they ought. It is told simply enough for beginning readers to enjoy on their own, yet also does a great job of not oversimplifying the story. Our 3 and 5 year old loved the book and its beautiful illustrations. Alice Dalgliesh has presented us with a wonderful account of the first Thanksgiving, helping children to gain an awareness of where this special holiday originated, and why we take time on this day each year to thank God for His blessings to us. And truly, there is much for which we are thankful.

April 8th, 2004 What’s playing in Jay’s car?

Okay, folks, the only rule is: no Google! Now, who can name the band I’m listening to these days in my car? Here’s a few lyrical snippets from one of their albums…

“It can’t be all coincidence
Too many things are evident
You tell me you’re an unbeliever
Spiritualist? Well me I’m neither
But wouldn’t you like to know
The truth?”

“There’s a time to live and a time to die
When it’s time to meet the maker
There’s a time to live but isn’t it strange
That as soon as you’re born you’re dying”

“Only the good die young
All the evil seem to live forever”

There you have it. The band is…?

April 4th, 2003 Baby Einstein

This past Christmas, Nicolas’ Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Mark gave him a Baby Einstein video entitled “Baby Beethoven”. For those of you not familiar with the Baby Einstein line of products, they range from books to video to cds to toys which are aimed at introducing babies and children to music, art, language, science and nature in playful, enriching ways. I’ve been aware of these products for some time now but never actually purchased any to use at home. How delighted I am that Jennifer thought to give this to Baby Nicolas. He, as well as his two older sibs absolutely love it and so does their Mommy! (Thank you Jennifer!)

I have always felt that exposing children to music from birth on, and helping them to learn to enjoy it is so important and here is yet another way we can do that. But the kids don’t necessarily realize they are being serenaded by some of Beethoven’s finest works; they just enjoy the pretty colors and shapes and little animals they see dancing and moving to the music.

Though I don’t advocate having kids sit in front of the tv for too long, this is one video we enjoy watching together, and it is also pleasant to listen to if I am cooking dinner in the next room, because it is rather soothing (unlike some children’s videos and music!).

Anyway, I will watch for some of the other Baby Einstein products in my travels and look forward to trying them out.

June 30th, 2002 Veggie Tales

Do you think BigIdea would have a problem with a knock-off called “Veggie Tales from the Crypt” that starred Bob the Rind and Larry the Husk?

April 25th, 2002 Wright’s “Jesus the New Way”

Is this video series as good as it looks? I’m scheduled to teach a 9 week SS series on Ruth starting in August, but I’ve only done my initial planning and would gladly drop it…

February 17th, 2002 Phil Keaggy

I got back about an hour ago from a Phil Keaggy concert. I’d forgotten what it was like to watch some perform in such a way that my gut level response was to burn my guitars because, hey, what’s the point? He was playing down at Park Cities Pres as part of the church’s Arts ministry. Free concert with free childcare. About half the set was Keaggy on stage by himself, the other half had a chamber orchestra accompanying him. Absolutely amazing stuff. I’ll have to admit that I’ve not really ever been a huge fan of Keaggy’s records. But I don’t hold it against myself. The guy cannot be represented on a CD… he’s a performer, and he comes alive in front of an audience.

December 12th, 2001 Christmas music

For an eclectic addition to your Christmas music collection, might I suggest Christmas Eve & Other Stories by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra? Here’s the 30 second Amazon preview of the better known song on the album. For those who don’t know the band, it is composed of a band named Savatage, plus a lot of other folks. Savatage has probably been kicking around for 15 years releasing one unusual concept album after another. They have this odd blend of thrash, rock opera, and I don’t know what.

I bought a Savatage album back in 1988 when I was in high school named In the Hall of the Mountain King. Since college, I hadn’t really listened to anything by the band until a couple years ago when I picked up Dead Winter Dead on a whim at a Half Price Bookstore. It tells the story of the fall of Sarajevo primarily from the point of view of a gargoyle on the cathedral in the center of town. Interestingly, the picture of the band in the liner notes has them standing way up high on scaffolding next to the gargoyle as the church is repaired after the wars. Here’s a review of the album.

December 11th, 2001 Ocean’s Eleven

I suppose I shouldn’t have mentioned Ocean’s Eleven without providing at least a thumbs up/down. I thought the movie was great and lived up to its hype as a slick popcorn-eating entertainment package. No deep thoughts here, just a fun time as the plot unfolds. It was also surprisingly non-vulgar given the trends these days. Mild language, mild sex, mild violence, etc. I had wanted to see the movie after noticing that it was getting universally good reviews, from CNN to NPR.

I’ll also have to admit that I almost fell out of my chair laughing during the preview for Orange County. I guess I have a weakness for well done, immature movies.

And now I just need to help arrange for a baby-sitter on December 19…