Greetings All,
Drive-by posting here. Feel free to take what you want and disregard the rest.
Ran across a really interesting two-part interview with Bill Mallonee that dates to October 2007. Oddly enough, after reading the article, it made me want to revisit some of his more recent efforts (efforts I have found to be less than satisfying). Part one is here, while part two is here.
Went to see the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. If you at all consider yourself a fan of the orginal Raiders, if you even found some measure of delight in the Temple of Doom and the Last Crusade, I implore you: do not see this film. I can sum it up thusly (spoiler alert!): Indiana Jones survives a nuclear blast by stepping into a conveniently lead-lined refrigerator that is blown hundreds of feet through the air, whilst everything else around it is vaporized into dust. This, of course, occurs in the first ten minutes; and it may be one of the more believable things to occur in this film ... I repeat: do not condescend to see this tripe!
Anyone ever hear of a band called incendio? It's an instrumental crew that straddles the line between latin-fusion and jazz. Kind of interesting. Wish I could hear more than 30 second clips on iTunes. Anyway, a friend of mine is hosting a house show and he has invited me to attend. Apparently, he did this last year and over 100 people showed up. This year, he is expecting around 200 folks.
Cubs are in first place! That is all.
Drive-by posting here. Feel free to take what you want and disregard the rest.
Ran across a really interesting two-part interview with Bill Mallonee that dates to October 2007. Oddly enough, after reading the article, it made me want to revisit some of his more recent efforts (efforts I have found to be less than satisfying). Part one is here, while part two is here.
Went to see the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. If you at all consider yourself a fan of the orginal Raiders, if you even found some measure of delight in the Temple of Doom and the Last Crusade, I implore you: do not see this film. I can sum it up thusly (spoiler alert!): Indiana Jones survives a nuclear blast by stepping into a conveniently lead-lined refrigerator that is blown hundreds of feet through the air, whilst everything else around it is vaporized into dust. This, of course, occurs in the first ten minutes; and it may be one of the more believable things to occur in this film ... I repeat: do not condescend to see this tripe!
Anyone ever hear of a band called incendio? It's an instrumental crew that straddles the line between latin-fusion and jazz. Kind of interesting. Wish I could hear more than 30 second clips on iTunes. Anyway, a friend of mine is hosting a house show and he has invited me to attend. Apparently, he did this last year and over 100 people showed up. This year, he is expecting around 200 folks.
Cubs are in first place! That is all.
posted by Just a Few Things about Scott ... | 3:48 PM
4 Comments:
Interesting Quote: During that mid ‘90’s period, there were so many CCM mainstream bands out there, everybody from Third Day to Jars of Clay that had these slight Americana overtones but the band they were all listening to was Vigilantes of Love.
Two thoughts re: the Bill article. 3, actually.
1. I'd like to hear what others have to say.
2. Train wreck.
3. Even though he does come off as a bit of a train wreck, I still find myself in agreement (or at least identification) with a lot of his points. It's frustrating...
So you want to know what others have to say about the article?
1. I thought his comments regarding his marraige being held up as an example to others were really sad. Theologically speaking, marriage is meant to be seen in public. It's the closest relational parallel we have to the relationship that Christ has with his church. So for him to not want his marriage to be seen by others as an example ... well, that just strikes me as defensive.
2. I agree with many comments regarding the state of the music industry - both secular and CCM. He does seem a little enamored of his own work, though. While I agree that VoL put out some great material, it was a little off putting to hear him talk about how great it was in comparison to other bands material.
3. I found myself wondering about his move to Roman Catholicism. From the article, it sure seems like that move was predicated by his status as an artist and his life decisions regarding marriage. Very little of that move seems to actually involve theology. It's almost as if he wanted a place to hide where no one would challenge him on his sins (e.g. selfish pursuit of career over family, divorce, etc...)
As usual—I have difficulty discounting your views. I guess I see his life as the results of trying to reap the wind. You can’t go on self-imposed 6-month deployments for a decade and a half and expect to have a healthy family. Which leads me to my second point—if you’re in a career for 1.5 decades and it still results in a (at best) zero-sum gain…then you’re doing it wrong. While I may be theologically incorrect, I see one of the primary duties of a husband / father as leading/providing both (1) spiritually, and (2) economically. Neither is possible with said self-imposed fruitless deployments. So in the end, I’ve got to ask—what was the motivation for doing so? Selfishness? Could it be that simple? Because I’m just not getting it—I simply can’t identify with his motivations for doing so. I can’t stand my dinky bi-annual 4-day professional conferences. He must have been trying to derive some kind of personal satisfaction from the road that he felt he wasn’t receiving at home. I expect that he was divorced (in his mind) far before the actual paper-work went through…
The views on CCM are also hard to discount. But I don’t get the victim status. His choices were his choices, and he chose to place himself out of markets. So stop whining about it. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you—and I respect the fact that you tried. I disdain the K-Lov CCM variety style of “worship” as well. The warm fuzzy buddy-Christ perspective doesn’t seem to be all too authentic to me. But if you don’t want to play the game, don’t whine that you didn’t succeed in it.
Your point on the rise of Roman Catholicism as a tool for an unopposed lifestyle. That’s an interesting point. I wonder which came first. The change in religious views predicating a lifestyle, or a lifestyle in search of a change in religious views. A certain part of me gets his point though—as there are some fundamental tenets of the evangelical movement that I just don’t like on a personal level. Not to say that they’re right or wrong—I just don’t much care for them. RC makes more sense to me in that regard. And don’t get me started on Calvinism; talk about putting God in a box.
I guess I walk away from it all wondering where the hell his personal accountability is. You can’t pay rent or heat. Who’s fault is that? Your marriage struggled (as do all ours at some point)—where’s the heart of humility and sacrifice to restore it? You’re dissatisfied from your lack of CCM success? Who could have changed that? His music was never that strong; his lyrical personal insights is what made Bill Bill. The thing is—it seems like said personal insights will be exceedingly limited without an honest sense of personal accountability.
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