mountain masala

chasing god

The film Chasing God is now available on DVD in Australia from Ronin.

Narrated by award-winning comedian Dawn French
This film tackles the eternal question: Why do humans believe in a Higher Power?

IS THIS BEING A BEARDED OLD MAN
OR A SPARK OF LIGHT?
WITHIN US OR OUTSIDE OF US?
THE ONE OR THE MANY?
AN EMOTION OR AN ENTITY?
A BEGINNING OR AN END?
SOMEONE TO LOVE OR TO FEAR?

CHASING GOD takes us on an enlightening journey to: the Vatican & the Ganges, The Wailing Wall & The Dome of the Rock Mosque, The Golden Temple & the Dalai Lama Temple in the Himalayas. Followed by daring and provocative scenes of a world out of balance.

Study notes are available too.

miscrosoft's mac lab - apparently

Link: A Tour of Microsoft's Mac Lab.

church as it ought to be

thanks to steve collins, here are some stunning pix of an eating place in texas called the "spider house".

Pics 1

Pics 2

Pics 3

permanent evolutions

darren let me know that all india radio have new material in the queue. "permanent evolutions" is "a collection of remixes, unreleased tracks and film music....DJ Shadow meets Boards Of Canada, ambient soundscapes and lo-fi beats with some Twin Peaks & Ennio Morricone weirdness thrown in for good measure."

in the US you can get it here or on itunes US, and in australia it's here.

For me, they are they sound of lazy summer at byron bay.

put the message in the box

thanks to darren for the link to world party videos (go to downloads section). I've been a big World Party fan since the start. World Party man Karl Wallinger played with Mike Scott's The Waterboys early on. One of my former bands (the... errr... Dead Set Chick Magnets....) played "Put the Message in the Box", and sometime even remembered the right chords. Wallinger is an amazing musical chameleon - the album "Bang" has Beatles, Prince, and all kinds of other stuff on it. I have to say that I didn't get into "Egyptology" much, but after downloading a couple of the video clips, I'm going to put it on right now.

To my knowledge, World Party have never toured Australia. Karl did a whistle stop promo tour of Australia around the time of "Bang"'s release, but the capital city events were invitation only for industry execs. I read a rave review of the Melbourne gig in one of the local music mags.

Karl is certainly a man of faith in some sense. (how trite was that sentence? I could say that in the past he has seemed to have had Christian leanings, but who knows.)

World Party have a new album, Dumbing Up, and are touring the US as we speak.

BTW apparently the Waterboys have a new live album, Karma To Burn.

International Association for the Study of Popular Music

Just came across this. Simon Frith, author of "Performing Rites" is a member, or at least has written for them. I had picked up the published papers of the last conference (1998) in a computer shop for $5 recently.

Link: IASPM - International Association for the Study of Popular Music.

I'm going to start blogging about Frith's book shortly.

new life comes

I actually wrote this a while back and its still looking for a good tune. I might work on it this week. thanks to roddy and cheryl for some lyrical advice.

New Life Comes

Hear in this place
A voice softly speaking
Strong words of life
Hush and listen
Hear heaven’s whisper
Into this wilderness
New life comes

See in his face
Christ-child rudely crying
Fresh gift of life
Rest long enough
To know heaven’s touch
From such tenderness
New life comes

CHORUS
Heaven’s touch
Heaven’s taste
Heaven’s sign
Heaven’s grace
In this time
In this place

See in this place
A crust roughly breaking
Warm bread of life
Calm your haste
Receive heaven’s taste
Bringing us fullness
New life comes

CHORUS
Heaven’s touch
Heaven’s taste
Heaven’s sign
Heaven’s grace
In this time
In this place

Drink in this grace
A flood freely flowing
Cool cup of life
Pause here in time
And share heaven’s wine
Essence of holiness
New life comes

CHORUS
Heaven’s touch
Heaven’s taste
Heaven’s sign
Heaven’s grace
In this time
In this place

BRIDGE
Truth is our hunger
Justice is our thirst
Mercy is our longing
Grace is given first

See on this Cross
Love’s slow dance expiring
Cruel theft of life
Wait by the tomb
This is heaven’s womb
Healing brokenness
New life comes

CHORUS
Heaven’s touch
Heaven’s taste
Heaven’s sign
Heaven’s grace
In this time
In this place

CHORUS #2
Feel God’s touch
See God’s face
Hear God’s voice
Know God’s grace
In this time
In this place.

Craig Mitchell 2004.

dr john

no, not the new orleans man... another dr john. John Smith, a true legend and someone who has had a big impact on me over the years. He now has his own website.

I'm just sorry that he's starting to look like Colonel Sanders....

still, apparently I'm looking like Peter Costello.... well, his mouth, anyway....

exploding pizza

saturday evening's pizza took on a life of its own.....

that's a repeat of the recent veg pizza on this side and chicken, roast corn and roast capsicum on the other side....

Free audio sermons

Here's a link to a stack of American preachers - some text only, but also audio and video. Some very impressive people on the list - Elizabeth Achtmeier, Frederick Buechner, Campolo, Robert Farra Capon, Joan Chittister, Richard Foster, James Fowler.... you get the idea.

Link: 30GoodMinutes.org.

Thanks to Andy Rowell for the tip.