Almost anyone who knows the name Anne Rice knows it from her legendary vampire novels, especially "Interview With The Vampire." Her work has always been meticulously researched, and stunningly written. So when she chose to write about the most well know figure in the Western world, that it would be well-written and well-researched was a given fact. What I didn't expect was the rich passion and inspired thought that went into the novel "Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt."
Told from in the first person, from the perspective of a divine seven-year-old Jesus bar Joseph, the first century Middle East springs to life. Jesus doesn't understand his powers, does not yet know the story of his birth and the reason his family fled to Egypt. He is a smart child, a good child, but when he miraculously kills, then revives a child he is confused. Again when he heals his uncle, he doesn't know for sure that he was the one who did it. He doesn't know why his family has been hidden, why the strange reaction of the village people upon his family's return to Nazareth. On the way home, they stop in Jerusalem for Passover, and Jesus witnesses a riot, and watches as soldiers impale a man with spear. That scene replays in his head, especially during a feverish dream. The novel ends when Jesus begins to discover his destiny, and learns the truth about what happened in the sleepy town of Bethlehem.
While the story of the life of Christ is more than well known, Rice's novel colorfully depicts the life a carpenter's family in a small town in first century Judea, masterfully uncovers the emotions of a boy on the verge of discovering his Godhood and evokes true feelings in this reader. I can't wait to read the recently released second volume, "Christ The Lord: Road To Cana"
Monday, March 31, 2008
Stunning New Bjork Video - "Wanderlust"
I'm not much of a Bjork fan, I enjoyed the song "Earth Intruders" last year and of her old school stuff, "All Is Made Of Love" and the Dancer In The Dark soundtrack are the only things I know. So it's not surprising her song "Wanderlust" seems overly noisy and strange. Not bad, but not a fave of mine. But the video is amazing! Like a Norse take on Oriental creation myths, it's beautiful and strong. It's just visually stunning and the ending is awesome. Watch it:
Diva Showdown!
Are you ready for it? Tomorrow we will see if the New Mariah Carey, British pop sensation Leona Lewis, can hold on to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her white hot hit "Bleeding Love" or if the original Mariah can overtake her with her radio smash "Touch My Body." This is the first week Mariah's song has been available for purchase as a download, and you know I downloaded it. Currently "Touch" is holding fast to the pole position on the iTunes chart, and for my own observation is getting a little more airplay on the radio, so I think Mariah will get her 18th #1, tieing her with Elvis Presley for second place (behind the Beatles) in number one hits. But what if there was another diva ready to pounce? Madonna's collaboration with my boyfriend Justin Timberlake is number two on the iTunes chart right now, and radio has been eating it up. I downloaded it, too. I don't know how many spins "4 Minutes" is getting, but I'm hoping for a one-two-three girl power punch at the top. Whichever glamorous star tops the charts, it seems it's a good time to be a girl with pop chops. Need more proof that Leona Lewis is amazing? Check her live on Leno last week. Lewis's Spirit is out tommorrow. Carey's E=MC2 and Madonna's Hard Candy are available in April.
Friday, March 28, 2008
My New Clothing Obsession
OK, this is going to sound weird, but at Target I got these Merona Mid Rise Briefs, and they are the best underwear ever! The large size fits just right, snugly "supporting" the right things, they don't curl up my cheeks, or fold down at the top. No wedgies, either. The downside? Ten bucks for two pairs, I don't pay that much for undies ever. But I might have to, they are ten times better than the Hanes I bought for $7.99 for six. You really do pay for quality, I guess. I guess it's not that weird to have a favorite underwear, so I'm admitting it. I have a pair of favorite underwear.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Is Duffy The New Winehouse?
After Universal decided to re-release "You Know I'm No Good" the stellar first single from Amy Winehouse's Back to Black it was only a matter of time before the other throwback white-soulstress from across the pond would make a splash here in the states. Duffy has grabbed hold of the UK charts and will not let go. MTV's Buzzworthy compared her to Dusty and Aretha, and I seriously wouldn't go that far, but she's good. It's a little more obvious homage in lead single "Mercy" to "Chain Of Fools" and "You Keep Me Hanging On" than Wino's stuff, but I'm feeling it more and more. Check the new video:
American Idol Recap - Songs From The Year You Were Born
OK, kids, I know I'm late! I had a doctor appointment this morning. Further aggrivation: I had to watch the whole episode on YouTube, 'cause my VCR went evil on me and didn't tape. So I missed a lot of the "patter" which was fine by me! So if I missed Ryan and Simon making out, sorry. I'm sure they there'll be plenty more HoYay! where that came from. In other AI news, Josiah Lemming, he who lived in the car and then bombed on "Stand By Me" during Hollywood week, has a record deal with Warner in the works, per Yahoo Music. Good for him, he was super emo so I'm sure he'll have a hit or two. Thanks Aunt Deb for the tip!
Moving right friggin' along with last nights epi. This theme is always one of my favorites, songs from the year you were born. It's always cool to hear them take on a song as old as they are. Let's see how our Idols did:
First up is sweet lil' Ramiele Malubay butchering Heart's "Alone" like it cut her gramma. Sharp and shouty in parts, plus Carrie Underwood done went and brought it in season four. It draws the comparison you don't want drawn, and that is: Ramiele < Carrie. For reals, yo! And I'm sick of the baby talk, you're short not an infant. "My voice went bye-bye" indeed. I think this is the week she goes home. Sorry girl, I used to love ya!
I'm getting the munchies just thinking about Jason Castro toking up some boring Sting song I never heard of. "Fragile" I hear it's called, if you really care. I'm pretty sure you don't. It seemed like a open mike night kind of performance, adequete to get you laid, but not a record deal. Which makes it aaaaawwwwwww good, man. Pass the Sun Chips.
OK, I only know the Alicia Keys version of "If I Was Your Woman" and Syesha Mercado didn't make me want to hunt down any other version. She's just so boring, I don't get it. She was good, I'll give her that, but that song was just a little slow and her vocals not that exciting. Once again, boring. Bottom three for sure.
Oh Chikeize, you drank the boring Kool-Aid too? I don't know this "If Only For One Night" song, all I could hear was "One Night Only" from Dreamgirls. I was surprised, usually he has this strong Luther Vandross sound to his voice on these R&B jams, but this time his vocals were even boring. I keep getting boring! I want exciting!
My homegirl Brooke White is going to bring the drama with a moody piano take on "Every Breath You Take" right? Right? No? Boo! The opening was OK, but she didn't have enough menace in her voice for the lyrics and when the band kicked in, it went cheesy real quick. It was better than last week, but I hope we haven't seen Brooke peak already. She can do magical things behind that piano, I hope she brings it next week.
Wow, Michael Johns should join a Queen cover band already and just get it over with. Apparently he can only impress when doing those songs. I still think he sounds like a really good singer doing kareoke, but it was finally an enjoyable performance after the last five boring ones. And kudos for doing both "We Are The Champions" and "We Will Rock You," since I thought they were the same song when I was a kid.
Carly Smithson needs help picking the right songs. This was not the right song. "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" is a fucking amazing song, but she was shouty in parts and just didn't fit well with her. I was pulling for a great performance after last week's good one put her in the bottom three, but I think there were enough sucktacular ones to keep her out this week. I don't know, though.
Don't you just love the awkward banter Ryan sometimes pulls out of his ass? Poor D. Arch, the boy was clearly put on the spot with the whole prom line of questioning, but he is really adorable when nervous. And all the rest of the time. But the singing, again not so great this week. He seemed hoarse at the beginning and the arrangment was lackluster. I just listened to both KT Tunstall and Rebecca St. James covers of this song in past week and they were much better. RSJ was about a year older than David when she covered it on God, so it's not an age thing. It just didn't work for him. He should've done "Everything I Do" like I suggested. But he's not touching bottom three for another three or four weeks, I would put money on it.
Kristy Lee Cook, you cunning little bitch! You knew you were in trouble this week, it was clearly your turn to go so you get all patriotic with a little "God Bless The USA" and bam, instant save. I applaud your skill at playing America, as much as I despise you for doing it. Shrewd, clever, almost Bond villian worthy. Plus you sang halfway decent and kept the awkward eye movement to a minimum. It makes it hard to hate you anymore.
And let's close the night with my boyfriend, David Cook, and his cover of Chris Cornell's cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Yeah, he steals his cover ideas, who gives a shit? Not the horny boys and girls of America, that's for sure. He just exudes rock star confidence, charisma and hotness, and he sings well. Not shouting like a lot of rockers, or screaming. Plus he's got the most kissable lips.
So, boring night, huh? Clearly Ramiele should go home, and I'm pretty sure she will. Joining her in bottom three land will be Chikieze and Syesha. With a possible Carly spoiler, who knows after last week?
Moving right friggin' along with last nights epi. This theme is always one of my favorites, songs from the year you were born. It's always cool to hear them take on a song as old as they are. Let's see how our Idols did:
First up is sweet lil' Ramiele Malubay butchering Heart's "Alone" like it cut her gramma. Sharp and shouty in parts, plus Carrie Underwood done went and brought it in season four. It draws the comparison you don't want drawn, and that is: Ramiele < Carrie. For reals, yo! And I'm sick of the baby talk, you're short not an infant. "My voice went bye-bye" indeed. I think this is the week she goes home. Sorry girl, I used to love ya!
I'm getting the munchies just thinking about Jason Castro toking up some boring Sting song I never heard of. "Fragile" I hear it's called, if you really care. I'm pretty sure you don't. It seemed like a open mike night kind of performance, adequete to get you laid, but not a record deal. Which makes it aaaaawwwwwww good, man. Pass the Sun Chips.
OK, I only know the Alicia Keys version of "If I Was Your Woman" and Syesha Mercado didn't make me want to hunt down any other version. She's just so boring, I don't get it. She was good, I'll give her that, but that song was just a little slow and her vocals not that exciting. Once again, boring. Bottom three for sure.
Oh Chikeize, you drank the boring Kool-Aid too? I don't know this "If Only For One Night" song, all I could hear was "One Night Only" from Dreamgirls. I was surprised, usually he has this strong Luther Vandross sound to his voice on these R&B jams, but this time his vocals were even boring. I keep getting boring! I want exciting!
My homegirl Brooke White is going to bring the drama with a moody piano take on "Every Breath You Take" right? Right? No? Boo! The opening was OK, but she didn't have enough menace in her voice for the lyrics and when the band kicked in, it went cheesy real quick. It was better than last week, but I hope we haven't seen Brooke peak already. She can do magical things behind that piano, I hope she brings it next week.
Wow, Michael Johns should join a Queen cover band already and just get it over with. Apparently he can only impress when doing those songs. I still think he sounds like a really good singer doing kareoke, but it was finally an enjoyable performance after the last five boring ones. And kudos for doing both "We Are The Champions" and "We Will Rock You," since I thought they were the same song when I was a kid.
Carly Smithson needs help picking the right songs. This was not the right song. "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" is a fucking amazing song, but she was shouty in parts and just didn't fit well with her. I was pulling for a great performance after last week's good one put her in the bottom three, but I think there were enough sucktacular ones to keep her out this week. I don't know, though.
Don't you just love the awkward banter Ryan sometimes pulls out of his ass? Poor D. Arch, the boy was clearly put on the spot with the whole prom line of questioning, but he is really adorable when nervous. And all the rest of the time. But the singing, again not so great this week. He seemed hoarse at the beginning and the arrangment was lackluster. I just listened to both KT Tunstall and Rebecca St. James covers of this song in past week and they were much better. RSJ was about a year older than David when she covered it on God, so it's not an age thing. It just didn't work for him. He should've done "Everything I Do" like I suggested. But he's not touching bottom three for another three or four weeks, I would put money on it.
Kristy Lee Cook, you cunning little bitch! You knew you were in trouble this week, it was clearly your turn to go so you get all patriotic with a little "God Bless The USA" and bam, instant save. I applaud your skill at playing America, as much as I despise you for doing it. Shrewd, clever, almost Bond villian worthy. Plus you sang halfway decent and kept the awkward eye movement to a minimum. It makes it hard to hate you anymore.
And let's close the night with my boyfriend, David Cook, and his cover of Chris Cornell's cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Yeah, he steals his cover ideas, who gives a shit? Not the horny boys and girls of America, that's for sure. He just exudes rock star confidence, charisma and hotness, and he sings well. Not shouting like a lot of rockers, or screaming. Plus he's got the most kissable lips.
So, boring night, huh? Clearly Ramiele should go home, and I'm pretty sure she will. Joining her in bottom three land will be Chikieze and Syesha. With a possible Carly spoiler, who knows after last week?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Download Madonna "4 Minutes" on iTunes Today.
Hey Madonna people! The new Madonna single featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, "4 Minutes" is available for download today, and you can preorder Hard Candy on iTunes. Rumor has it there will be a vinyl and CD single available, too. I can't find it on Amazon, though, and I don't know where they stock CD singles in the Harrisburg area anymore. I'll be checking Best Buy tomorrow. I wish iTunes had the extended single with the rumored remixes, but they only have the radio single.
As for the song, I blogged about it when it first leaked, and I still love it. This HQ version is much better than the French radio rip I downloaded. It's a touch slower, which I noticed in the Sunsilk ad, which I like, plus it has an intro and outro that were missing from the rip. That takes the song to an actual 4 minutes, which should shut up the bloggers who were complaining about a song called "4 Minutes" that only ran about three. The horns sound less mechanized, ditto on the vocals. I'm excited for the new album, I hear The Neptunes and my boy Kanye also lay down some production. Should be a hot one!
As for the song, I blogged about it when it first leaked, and I still love it. This HQ version is much better than the French radio rip I downloaded. It's a touch slower, which I noticed in the Sunsilk ad, which I like, plus it has an intro and outro that were missing from the rip. That takes the song to an actual 4 minutes, which should shut up the bloggers who were complaining about a song called "4 Minutes" that only ran about three. The horns sound less mechanized, ditto on the vocals. I'm excited for the new album, I hear The Neptunes and my boy Kanye also lay down some production. Should be a hot one!
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