The BRADLEY

 

A sad song, yes, but one of my personal favorites to play around this time of year. And Lee Murdock has become one of my favorite singers.

A Bit of Advice for Casual Conversations

 Never pick an argument with someone you barely know, especially when your intuition is telling you they won't like the thing you enjoy. This can only result in you feeling like an idiot and being tempted to try and win the argument even after it's over. I made that mistake yesterday evening, and am not all that pleased with myself.

When You Drop a Logic Bomb on Yourself

Earlier this month I was in the waiting room at the music school waiting for my turn with the accompanist. One of the other singers was a mezzo-soprano who singing None But the Lonely Heart in Russian. I instantly knew that she had to be a fan of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and this was confirmed the following Sunday after the recital.

How did I mage to come to this conclusion? Well, as far as I know there is only one such recording of None But the Lonely Heart in Russian*, at least this side of the Bering Strait. Said recording is done by Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Since that is AFAIK the only recording of the song in Russian, anyone who sings the song in Russian must have knowledge of Russian opera, and as such would also know about Russian opera singers, including Dima. 

Its rare that I make such successful guesses, but one must savor them when they happen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*The sheet music I got was in German with English translation, I had to write in the Russian lyrics myself.

THE CHOSEN

Who'd have thunk anyone would come up a dramatization of the life of Jesus that was actually great? 

I ranted before about the movie Son of God, which at the time I gave it a five out of ten; in retrospect I probably should have given it a one out of ten. But I'm not here to rant about a nigh-unholy half-baked piece of junk that insults our LORD by making Him so chill there's no anger in Him at all. No, I'm here to talk about the magnificence that is The Chosen.

The show centers around the life of Jesus, however, instead of a straight-up Gospel retelling, the makers of The Chosen opted for a seven-season TV-show told mainly from the point of view of the disciples. There is plenty of speculation to be sure, but it's done in such a way as to develop the characters of the disciples. Some bits have been telescoped and some original characters were added. The story is supremely realistic, showing how Jesus was seen through people's eyes at that time. 

 

What can I say? This show is superb. I can't really find anything seriously wrong with it. Really, my only quibble with the show is that it skipped over the forty days in the desert where Jesus was tempted by the devil, and there being a few anachronistic jokes thrown in. But the writing and characterization is top-notch. 

        For example, Matthew is portrayed as autistic. Whether this is true or not we don't know, but Matthew had been a tax-collector before Jesus called him. Tax-collectors were Jews who worked for the Romans and were infamous for charging more than was necessary and skimming off the top, and thus considered the lowest of the lowlife despite being rich. Rather than risk Matthew being an unlikable jerk, the writers made him autistic and very good with numbers. He has a tough time understanding other people's feelings and struggles to get along with people. 

      Outside of The Miracle Maker, this has to be the best portrayal of Jesus I've ever seen. Not very many films based on His life are able to capture His humanity along with His divinity in a way that makes Him relatable. Then again, this is a series so there more time to explore the characters. 

       Highly reccomended.