Last night three of my sisters and I took a nephew and niece to Stars On Ice. We hadn't gone in a few years, but this was Kurt Browning's farewell tour, so we got tickets a while ago. This picture is from while we we waiting for the show to start. The show was great, with lots of amazing skating and feel good moments with the elders of the tour- Elvis Stojko and, of course, Kurt. A number of the performances used music from musicals; one of the pairs skated to a medley from Evita, "Don't Rain On My Parade" from Funny Girl, and "The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha, to name a few. After the intermission the entire cast did an ensemble number which was an homage to the James Bond films, incorporating the themes from several of the older movies in the franchise. Which was a lot of fun for both the cast and the audience. But of course, the real focus of the show was Kurt Browning, who got many standing ovations from the appreciative crowd. It was especially poignant when he was skating and scenes from past performances- shows, World Championships, etc., were playing on the big screens set around the ice. These included scenes from a couple of my favourite skates by him: his Casablanca number and Singing In The Rain, both of which I'll share below. And, heck, just for fun:
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A little over a month ago I got a promotion at work; I'm in the same building but in a different part of it. The other day one of my former coworkers gave me this table topper she crocheted for me as a congratulations/goodbye gift. What a nice thing to do- and it's so pretty. I'm kind of envious too, because I've never learned to crochet... I knit of course, but can't make anything like this. "A friend is a gift you give yourself." -Robert Louis Stevenson Related Posts: Though reeling, Tim has the presence of mind to ask for details about the party where they met. Armed with this information, he goes back to that evening and arrives at said party right before Mary, intercepting her at the door, introducing himself, and keeping her from meeting the other guy. He and Mary hit it off just as they had the first time around and soon are in a serious relationship which, as time goes on, leads to marriage and the birth of their first child- a girl, Posy. Showing remarkable restraint, Tim rarely uses his power to go back in the past, and usually only when some sort of event has gone horribly wrong, like his first meeting with Mary's parents. It's all pretty innocuous until something happens to his sister. As the movie progresses, we see KitKat go from being a ditsy, happy-go-lucky girl to being miserable and self-destructive due to her toxic relationship with her creep boyfriend. After a fight with him, KitKat flees their flat and drives away, despite the fact she's been drinking and is almost hysterical. She gets in an accident and ends up in the hospital. Devastated, Tim decides that the best thing he can do is go back in time and prevent KitKat from ending up with the loser who has ruined her life. Which he does. All seems well when he arrives back in his own time until he enters his daughter's room and finds that Posy is gone and in her place is a son. Panicked, Tim contacts his father, who explains- this seems like something he should have mentioned before, frankly- that they can't return to before their children were born because any change in the timeline can cause the time of conception to be altered even slightly, which means their child(ren) won't be the same when they return to the present. Tim loves KitKat but isn't going to sacrifice his daughter for her, so he returns to the past and allows events to play out as they originally had, resulting in his sister once again being a hospitalized mess. This time, however, Tim doesn't take the easy way out, but puts in the work; he and Mary help KitKat get back on her feet, literally and metaphorically. She eventually gets her life in order, marries one of Tim's best friends, and has a child herself. Meanwhile Tim and Mary also have another child- a boy this time. Tim finds out that his father has lung cancer, due to the fact that, years before he had kids, he was a heavy smoker. His dad can't go back in time to change this because it would, as mentioned, change Tim and KitKat as well. The family gathers to spend time with James, but he finds time to take Tim aside and give him advice about using his power. He tells him that he eventually got in the habit of living days twice- once with all the stress and anxiety, then again taking time to notice and appreciate all the beautiful moments in it. The family grieves terribly when James dies, but Tim finds comfort by occasionally going back in time- after the birth of his son, of course- to spend a few hours here and there with his dad in the past. He also starts doing what his father suggested: living days twice and appreciating the precious moments with friends and family. Then, one day, Mary tells him that she really wants them to have another baby. Tim is torn; he, too wants another child, but this will mean that, once the baby is conceived, he can never return to visit his father... it will be like losing him all over again, this time for good. He thinks things over, then returns to the past to see his father one last time; they spend a magical day at the sea shore, just talking and being together. When he goes back to the present, Tim is at peace with his decision. Life goes on, he and Mary have another child, and Tim finds himself going back in time less and less. He even stops living days twice, getting in the habit of appreciating the good stuff the first time around instead of waiting for a do-over. The movie closes with Tim, Mary, and their family living in the present, looking to the future. *This second part was rather delayed, as I dropped everything for Easter preparations and just got back to it. I will, though, do one last post on About Time, discussing its messages and my opinion of the film. Related Posts:“Youth is terrible: it is a stage trod by children in buskins and a variety of costumes mouthing speeches they've memorized and fanatically believe but only half understand. And history is terrible because it so often ends up a playground for the immature; a playground for the young Nero, a playground for the young Bonaparte, a playground for the easily roused mobs of children whose simulated passions and simplistic poses suddenly metamorphose into a catastrophically real reality." ― Milan Kundera, The Joke At the halfway point in Dorothy Sayers' play cycle The Man Born To Be King, I thought I'd pause and give my thoughts on the first six plays. The version which I have been listening to is not the original 1941 radio play, but one recorded in 1967, though I believe it wasn't aired until 1975. I must say, the actor- John Westbrook- who voices Jesus is excellent; I looked him up... he was very active in live theatre, performing in a lot of Shakespearean plays as well as doing voice work. Just a bit of trivia: Westbrook also voiced Treebeard in the 1978 animated version of LOTR. On the topic of voices, pretty much every actor is British, not surprising since the plays were produced by the BBC. Interestingly, Sayers denotes different classes of people in The Man Born To Be King through the use of various English accents. For example, several of the fishermen/disciples have Cockney accents, while people of higher social standing sound as though they just came down from Oxford or Cambridge. I was surprised by how effective this was, though I did blink a little at Calpurnia's servant who- we're told- is Greek but has a very pronounced French accent. Overall, though, I think this worked. What was quite controversial at the time was not so much the voices as it was what they were saying. Audiences were used to Biblical plays using very formal language- as found in the King James Bible- and some were inclined to be scandalized by Sayers having her characters use plain spoken, modern English. Now, I am second to none in my admiration for the KJV- it's my version of choice for reading. The church I attend uses the ESV for over-the-pulpit reading, but I prefer my trusty old King James, in no small part because it was the version I did all my memorization from as a child, and it's what I know best. Plus I just love the sound of the language it contains. But Sayers' use of modern (1940s) English works very well and is no way disrespectful; she stays well away from cringe-inducing slang or anything else of that nature. Another thing I think works well in the plays is Sayers' portrayal of Judas- at least, so far. Her Judas is not an evil intentioned man from the start: he's a sincere follower of John the Baptist who switches to following Jesus after John's arrest. Indeed, several of the younger disciples see to really look up to him. But there are hints from the start about certain weaknesses in his character- a suspicion verging on paranoia of any seeming power or popularity Jesus has, as well as some instances when we get hints of a jealous nature which Judas endeavors to keep hidden. For example, at one point Phillip heals a person through the power of Jesus; he's thoroughly humbled and amazed by this, giving all praise to Jesus for the miracle. Judas however, seems a bit sour that it was young Phillip instead of himself who was able to do this, though he manages to conceal this for the most part. But it made me think of Cain and Abel, with Cain lashing out and killing his brother out of envy and anger over God's acceptance of Abel's sacrifice and rejection of Cain's. You begin to wonder if at least part of Judas' fear of Jesus being corrupted by power is based in a secret desire for importance himself. Jesus obviously sees the flaws which Judas tries to keep hidden; some of His comments to Iscariot are very pointed. Also, when they first meet, Jesus accepts Judas into his inner circle with almost an air of resignation, as if He knows where this will eventually lead. Others such as Caiaphas and Baruch the Zealot obviously can also see Judas' hidden flaws and seek to use them to their advantage. This bit of dialogue really struck me; it's when Baruch the Zealot is suggesting to Caiaphas that they try to turn Judas. Caiaphas asks if he is susceptible to threats or bribes and Baruch replies: "Not in the ordinary way, no; he has a subtle mind and would see through any crude methods to corrupt him. But he may be led into deceiving himself with specious arguments- that is the weakness of all clever people: intellectual dishonesty springing from intellectual pride, the sin by which Adam fell." These words could have been written about our era, as we are presented with numerous of examples of intellectual dishonesty and self-deception in public intellectuals, so-called, on a daily basis. I was pleased to find myself quite enjoying listening to The Man Born To Be King because at first, I wasn't sure that I was going to. It started out a little slow for me, probably mostly because I know these parts of the Bible so well that through the first parts it seemed like a bit of a retread of very familiar territory. But this is Sayers merely staging the scene and, once all of the key players are in place, her skill as a suspense writer becomes evident as she tells the miraculous tale of the Christ while weaving political maneuvering, religious scheming, and personal rivalries throughout the narrative. It's also interesting to see how the threat Jesus posed to the establishment led to some very strange bedfellows, so to speak. For example, we see Baruch and Caiaphas collaborating though they have very different motivations. While definitely scandalized by Jesus' radical teachings, Caiaphas also worries that He will stir up trouble with Rome, causing them all grief. Baruch on the other hand is a Zealot, a sect committed to the cause of violently overthrowing Roman rule. He opposes Jesus precisely because He shows no sign of wanting to fight against Rome, preaching instead a heavenly kingdom and loving one's enemies. This doesn't play well to either faction. But Jesus didn't come to make nice- be "winsome," as it were- or confirm everyone's pet political theories and religious beliefs. And so He doesn't. As play succeeds play, the tensions- and stakes- are slowly ratcheted up and, even though you know where this is all headed, it makes for great listening. We do indeed know how the next six plays are going to go, but Sayers presents a very creditable account of how these events in the Gospels could have played out. Related Posts:Last Friday around 4:30 pm or so- heading into the last half hour of work before the weekend- I got a panicked call from one of my sisters. Her youth group (she's one of the leaders) was putting on a play at their church on Sunday and they were two costumes short; was there any way I could quickly sew up a couple for her? I had somewhere to be after work for a few hours, but told her I could sew them on Saturday. That was the problem, she said: the dress rehearsal was at 9 am on Saturday morning, so she'd have to pick them up from my place no later than 8:30. Sigh. I got home a little after 9 pm on Friday evening and then turned my mind to figuring how to make costumes without a pattern or measurements (I'd picked up the fabric from my sister earlier). Fortunately simple tunics/robes are pretty easy to quickly throw together, fit multiple sizes, and can easily be accessorized to look more "Biblical." But still, it was a rather late night. “Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other.” – Carol Saline As for my own current project, some time ago I came into possession of four chairs which belonged to my great grandparents. They've (the chairs, not the grandparents) been sitting in my spare room/sewing room for months because they need to be refurbished but I kept putting it off because I hated the thought of pulling all the staples underneath from whoever recovered the cushions the last time- probably my grandmother. In any case, I bit the bullet this week and got started; I bought some new foam, upholstery tacks, and upholstery fabric... so far I have one completely done. I plan to strip the varnish and redo that as well, but probably not until the summer when I can be guaranteed some good weather in order to work outside. “If you wait until you have enough money to decorate and make your home your own, it will never happen. If you wait until you can afford to buy everything new, you are missing the point. It is the old, the new, the hand-me-down, the collected, the worn but loved things in your home that make it your own.” —Stacy Risenmay, Not Just a Housewife Related Posts: In this post, I'm going to discuss the first six of the twelve plays which make up the play cycle of Dorothy Sayers' The Man Born To Be King. The first play is entitled Kings In Judea and it deals with the Wisemen's interactions with Herod as he tries to learn from them where this prophesied newborn king is, who might threaten his rule. They of course sneak out of the country to avoid him, leading to his monstrous "slaughter of the innocents," ordering all the male children under the age of two in Bethlehem and its surrounding area put to death. The second play is The King's Herald which is, obviously, about the ministry of John the Baptist, and we are introduced to the adult Jesus here, as he is about to start his own ministry. It covers Jesus' baptism by John, His 40 days in the desert, and also brings some of the men who will become His disciples into the narrative; they are originally followers of John. The third play- A Certain Nobleman- covers the wedding in Canaan (where Jesus turns the water into wine) and His healing of the nobleman's son, from which the play derives its name. In play number four, The Heirs To The Kingdom, Jesus continues to gather His group of disciples and we are introduced to Judas, who is a follower of John the Baptist until John is imprisoned, then comes to meet with Jesus. Christ's ministry is really getting off the ground here; He is preaching and performing miracles which are bringing crowds to see and listen to Him. It's at this time that he really comes on the radar of the Jewish religious leaders who perceive Him as a very real threat to their power and influence. They meet together to discuss what can be done about Him and the idea is floated to try to turn one of Jesus' inner circle against Him; one- Baruch- mentions that he has an in with one: Judas Iscariot. Also in this play, we hear Jesus preaching what is, to the Jews of that time, a revolutionary interpretation of their Law: the law says to commit no murder. Jesus goes further and says to hate no one, for to hate is to commit murder in your heart. The Law says to love your friends and hate your enemies; Jesus says to love your enemies and do good to those who treat you badly. This is, He preaches, how to fulfill the Law. He then demonstrates this new way, healing the servant of a Roman Centurion. The play closes out with the news that John the Baptist has been beheaded in prison. The fifth play- The Bread of Heaven- centers mostly on a conversation Judas has with Baruch the Zealot. Baruch questions Judas about his association with Jesus and Judas tells him without hesitation that he believes Jesus to be the promised Messiah. Baruch suggests that, if so, it would be useful if Jesus could be convinced to urge His followers to rise against their Roman oppressors but Judas is quick to veto this. He says that this is not what Jesus' message or His kingdom is about. He tells Baruch about the Sermon on the Mount, describing Jesus' preaching of the Beatitudes. At this, Baruch changes tacks and says that he worries that Jesus is getting too popular; He could become egotistical and be corrupted by His seeming power over people. Judas says fiercely that, if he thought there was a chance of Jesus becoming corrupt, he'd kill Him himself. Baruch says that, if he ever sees Jesus riding into Jerusalem at the head of a cheering crowd, he'll know that Jesus is a grifter, out for His own acclaim. Judas refuses to listen further but Baruch tells him not to be hasty and to think on what he has said. As time goes on, the crowds continue to grow, following Jesus as he teaches and heals; the feeding of the five thousand occurs. Some of the crowd starts calling out that Jesus should be their king; this causes Judas to think of what Baruch said to him and he begins to wonder if Jesus might indeed be preaching His own kingdom, not God's. As the crowd grows over-excited Jesus slips away, making arrangements to meet the disciples after they sail across the lake. While out on the lake, a storm comes up and through the wind and waves, the disciples are shocked and fearful to see a man walking towards them on the water. It is Jesus and when they realize this, Peter hops out of the boat and walks toward Him, though he becomes fearful and starts to sink until Jesus rescues him. When they reach the boat, Jesus calms the waves and they sail the rest of the way in safety. The following day once again finds Jesus teaching; he refers to Himself as the "Bread of Life" saying that those who have it will never hunger again. His strange words scandalize many, including some of His disciples and Jesus asks them who they think He is. Simon Peter says that He is the Christ, Son of the Living God. The Feast of Tabernacles- play six- finds Calpurnia, the wife of Pontius Pilate deciding to go hear Jesus' teaching because a servant told her of His miraculous healings and wise words. The Mount of Transfiguration occurs during this time as well. Meanwhile, the High Priest Caiaphas is hoping that the Feast of Tabernacles will lure Jesus to teach at the synagogue, making Him vulnerable to being seized and arrested. A pharisee complains to him of Jesus' behaviour, describing how He had the impertinence to let Mary Magdalene was his feet and forgave her sins. Caiaphas finds this talk of forgiveness sinister; the claims of Jesus being the Messiah could stir up trouble with Rome if He gets enough of the people believing it... Caiaphas remarks dismissively that the mob know nothing of the Law. While they are speaking, there is a commotion in the street; they look out to see that the notorious criminal Barabbas has been arrested by the Romans and is being taken to jail. The High Priest decides that it has become necessary to get rid of Jesus, saying "It is sometimes expedient that one man should die for the people." To further this aim, Caiaphas arranges a meeting with Judas, asking him if Jesus is involved in political activities. Judas denies this, saying that Jesus is the Christ, but of a heavenly kingdom. Caiaphas also asks him about his meeting with Baruch; Judas says that the Zealot is not to be trusted, but that Jesus is sound. He tells the High Priest that he would denounce Jesus himself if he thought He wasn't. Despite his loyal words, Caiaphas detects some uncertainty in Judas' manner, as well as a hint of jealousy of his master. He ponders how he can use these things for his own purposes. Meanwhile, Jesus is preaching to a large crowd which includes Calpurnia. He speaks of being the Light of the World, and of the Living Water, but is interrupted by Baruch- hoping to stir up trouble- calling out that they need a strong leader. He is successful: a riot breaks out among the different factions in the crowd, with cries going up for Jesus to be stoned. Calpurnia's guards hustle her away to safety, and Jesus slips away in the confusion. This ends the sixth play, and this is where I'll pause- at the halfway point in the play cycle. Related Posts: "Take me to the ocean.
Let me sail the open sea. To breathe the warm and salty air and dream of things to be.” — Erica Billups Off and on through the Easter season, I've been listening to the play cycle on the life of Jesus, written by Dorothy L. Sayers during World War II. The Man Born To Be King debuted on BBC Radio during the Christmas season in 1941, the twelve plays being released once a month through the next year. In 1944 episodes 8-10, which cover the crucifixion and resurrection, were replayed at Easter. Sayers is of course best known as a writer of mystery novels, being one of the "Four Queens of Crime" (the other three being Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh). Her most well-known works are the novels featuring the amateur sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey. But she was also a student of languages- both classical and modern- and produced translations of a number of classic works including Dante's Divine Comedy and The Song of Roland. Sayers also wrote poetry, short stories, commentaries, and a number of books- and, obviously, plays- on Christian theology. She came by this last interest honestly, being the daughter of an Anglican minister back when Church of England clerics still had some nodding acquaintance with Christian theology. Oddly enough, Sayers' inspiration for writing The Man Born To Be King came neither from her classical language and literature studies, nor her background in theology. While she was still establishing herself as a writer, Sayers worked for an advertising agency from 1922-31, writing slogans and jingles. One of her co-workers- named Albert Henry Ross- wrote books on Christian apologetics in his spare time, under the pseudonym Frank Morison; one of these books was titled Who Moved The Stone? and it examined the historical aspects of the trial, execution, and resurrection of Jesus. Sayers drew from this book quite a bit while writing her play cycle- especially for the trial scene. The Man Born To Be King was controversial from the get-go; a number of prissy atheists started in complaining about Christian plays being a form of propaganda. But a number of Christians also took issue with the plays; some were against an actor, even a voice actor, portraying Christ. And some regarded the entire project as being irreverent- heretical, even- because Sayers had her characters speak in every day English rather than the very formal, old style language of the King James Bible. Once the plays were released, however, the response was overwhelmingly positive- hence the replay a couple of years later. One person who very much enjoyed the plays was C.S. Lewis. Lewis and Sayers had a lot in common: they were both writers- of fiction and theology- both Christians, and both lived in Oxford, England. The two became friends through correspondence- pen pals, as it were- after Dorothy Sayers wrote a fan letter to Lewis; he responded, and they kept on writing back and forth. After reading her plays, Lewis wrote: Dear Miss Sayers-- I’ve finished The Man Born to be King and think it a complete success. (Christie the H.M. of Westminster told me that the actual performances over the air left his 2 small daughters with “open and silent mouths” for several minutes). I shed real tears (hot ones) in places: since Mauriac’s Vie de Jesus nothing has moved me so much. I’m not absolutely sure whether Judas for me “comes off”—i.e. whether I shd. have got him without your off-stage analysis. But this may be due to merely reading what was meant to be heard. He’s quite a possible conception, no doubt: I’m only uncertain of the execution. But that is the only point I’m doubtful on. I expect to read it times without number again…. Yours sincerely C.S. Lewis (Collected Letters, II, 577f) Lewis would indeed go on to read it again- every Holy Week from then on- and spoke critically about the "cultured asses... who are always waffling about reverence." He also added it to his list of recommended books, alongside works by such giants as St. Augustine, George MacDonald, G.K. Chesterton, and John Bunyan. Actually, that's how I learned of Sayers' play cycle: I was scanning over C.S. Lewis' reading list, planning to pick a new book to start as a devotional, and saw The Man Born To Be King listed, then looked it up and started listening. So that's a brief background to Dorothy Sayers' plays; in my next post I'll discuss the contents of the plays and my thoughts on them. Related Posts: |
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