Till There Was This . . .

So, it is no secret that I am a huge fan of Ignatian Spirituality and especially the concept of "finding God in all things", which to me is simply an awareness that everything we are and have comes from God, so whatever we find in the world in some way can lead us back to God.

About a month ago I got a new CD from one of my favorite singing groups that has roots right here in my beloved Bloomington:  Straight No Chaser.  Among the songs on the CD is the most amazing arrangement of the song "Till There Was You" from the musical The Music Man.   If you aren't familiar with the story, this song is sung by Marian the Librarian when she realizes that she has fallen for Harold Hill.

Only when I heard this particular arrangement, sung by these ten amazing men it wasn't a love song between a woman and a man, but to me it was someone realizing that the entire world looks and sounds different when one becomes aware of God in his or her life.  Everything changes,  colors are brighter, music is sweeter, and somehow the whole world looks so amazing.  There is Love all around,  because God is Love, and those who live in Love live in God, and God in them.

Listen to the lyrics, and put yourself in the place of the singer.  How has your world changed because you are aware that God is a part of all that you do?





Pax

Where Do You Hear The Voice! of God?

I have for years contended that there are many secular songs that can be perceived as songs of love from God to us if you listen with the Ignatian view that you can find God in all things.  In fact in certain cases I would contend that the songwriter's intention was to leave it open to that broad interpretation when he/she wrote the song.  Many of the band U2's songs have that impact of double meaning, on one level a love song and on a deeper level a song of searching for a deeper relationship that goes way beyond human love.

I have always had a very special affinity for "You Got Lucky" by Tom Petty.  From the first time I heard it, many years ago I have thought that it could be heard as a love song from God.  Perhaps my feelings were colored by the fact that at the time I was a lonely college kid who didn't have a date in sight and was looking for love from someone, and found consolation in the thought that God would always love me and I was truly lucky that God had "found me".

The other night when I was watching my new favorite competition show on television:  The Voice! on NBC,  I had another AHA moment about a song I have probably heard hundreds of times sung by Keith Urban, but on this particular night it was sung by an 18 year old woman.  The song is Stupid Boy,   and it turned into an entirely different song, about losing faith instead of just losing a girl.   It gave me chills.

I don't know why this surprises me so much.  I have always felt that You'll think of Me,  by Keith Urban is a song about turning  away from God.  We can move away, but we can never get so far away that we don't have that thought of God in the back of our minds no matter whoever else "arms" we find ourselves in.

So there are many songs that bring me to thoughts of God,  okay so no matter how masterfully it is sung,  I will freely admit that "Baby Got Back" doesn't have anything to redeem it,  but then maybe someone else can find the God-ness of that particular song.

What secular song makes you think of God in a way that takes your breath away?

PAX

This is . . . well . . . Awesome! The Only Four Chords You'll Ever Need

These guys are The Axis of Awesome, a comedy group from Australia. Warning they drop a few F-bombs, but the experience so much fun. Wish they would come to the USA.

Owl City artist on his faith

Owl City artist on his faith.

I heard Sean from the Air1 morning show read this on the air this morning and it brought tears to my eyes. These are the artists we need to support. My 13 year old daughter brightens up immediately when she hears his music come on the radio. He is truly glorifying God and sharing his love of creation through his music.

And what makes it nice from a parent's standpoint: not a single objectionable lyric in it at all.

Pax

Everything Has its Proper Place

I love Cardinal Arinze!




This is a man who knows how to teach.

h/t to holycanoli via twitter for the link

Pax

St Anthony Come to my Aide . . .

This could be my theme today. I seem to have mislaid my copy of Interior Castle that I have to read for my internship. My spiritual director looked at me with a cocked eyebrow and laughed when I told him that I "conveniently" misplaced it last week after a long day of slogging through the fifth mansion.

Anyway I thought maybe if I posted this, St. Anthony might come to my rescue and help me remember where I put the silly book. If not at least I have the pleasure of hearing one of my favorite songs done in a new and interesting arrangement:

Enjoy, while I go back to looking:






Pax

What If . . .

Your burning question was answered. (if, of course that question is What if the Beatles were Irish.) This one made me smile after a very hard day.)





h/t to DarwinCatholic

GO: Friday Funny Warning! Put Down Your Morning Coffee Before Viewing This Video!

Okay! I have seen some touching video before, but this rendition of a Mariah Carey song is just so beautifully done it brought tears to my eyes. . .



http://ddrare.multiply.com/video/item/16/Mariah_Careys_latest_single_Ken_Lee




among other things.


h/t to Paul via email for the link.

Pax

Handmotions in Heaven

This is just too funny, and a sign that we Catholics sure know how to laugh at ourselves.





The two guys in this video are Bob Rice and Chris Padgett and you can follow their links to their webpages and find out more about them.

h/t to Curt Jester for the links. and the laugh.

Pax

Who Knew?

Yet another homework dodge quiz:

Which Duran Duran album are you?

You're Thank You!
Take this quiz!








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What makes this totally funny is the quote at the end "I am so not worthy" which is something we say at Gradual School about being in the presence of certain professors who shall remain nameless, but that is why this just had to be my Duran Duran album even though I have never actually heard of or seen this album before this quiz.

H/t to mimi for the link,

Pax

Rainy Sunday Random Ten

1. House at Pooh Corner - Loggins & Messina - The Best of Friends
2. Nice Work if You Can Get It - Fred Astaire - An Evening With Fred Astaire
3. Can't Stop This Thing We Started - Bryan Adams - So Far So Good
4. Done Laid Around (AKA Gotta Travel On) Harry Belafonte - Very Best of Harry Belafonte
5. Knights in White Satin - The Moody Blues - This is the Moody Blues
6. I Don't Wanna Lose You - Santana Featuring Los Lobos - All That I Am
7. Runaway - Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies - Blow in the Wind
8. Crying, Waiting, Hoping - Buddy Holly - The Buddy Holly Collection
9. The Morning Comes - Smash Mouth - Astro Lounge
10. Can't Stop Falling Into Love - Cheap Trick - The Authorized Greatest Hits


Comments: Can't stop losing this thing I've laid around at pooh corner crying, waiting and hoping for the knights in white satin to work up to losing you but the morning comes and I gotta travel on. Whew I'm exhauseted just listening.

Pax

Sunday IPod Random Ten

Today instead of just giving you a random playlist I will give you a Meme of randomness thanks to a stolen tag from Paul Stokell a fellow Meinrad person who now lives in OK.


The Rules: Set your iPod or media player/program of choice to shuffle and answer each question with the song that comes up. Then repost the answers in a note of your own. No Cheating!

--- How do you feel right now:
Can't Stop This Thing we Started (Bryan Adams - So Far So Good)

--- When you get older your life will be:
Words of Love (Buddy Holly - Gold; Disc 1)

--- Your angry song is:
Danse Russe From Swan Lake (by Peter Ilyich Tchiakovsky with Joshua Bell on Violin - Classical Styles, Classical Sounds)

--- Your love song is:
Best of My Love (Eagles -Their Greatest Hits Volume I)

--- Your happy song is:
Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight (Buddy Holly - Gold Disc 1)

--- How you feel about your husband

You Were On My Mind (We Five - Billboard Top Pop Hits 1965)

--- What your husband thinks about you:
I'll be There For You (Bon Jovi - Crossroads)

--- What your style says about you:
Let's See Action (The Who featuring Eddie Vedder - Live at the Royal Albert Hall Disc 2)

--- How is your love life:

You Have Lived (Don McLean -American Pie and Other Hits)

And I am adding One to make it an even Ten:

What Your Kids think of you:

Bouncing off the Ceiling (A Ragamuffin Band - Prayers of a Ragamuffing Band)

This was much fun, and except for Swan lake pretty close to spot on, (We love Joshua Bell so He shows up on my IPod Playlist quite a bit. I often wonder just how random the shuffle function really is when two songs from the same disc show up on a list of ten songs though? -- see older and happy above.

Pax

Lazy Sunday Played on Monday

My Random Ten from Yesterday will have to be posted today because I just forgot to get around to it.


I was in a Jazz mood yesterday, so I listened to my all Jazz playlist if you don't like that tough cookies:

1) Drunk Daddy - Cherry Poppin' Daddys
2) Get to Gettin' - Nat King Cole
3) Tea For Two - Big Band Swing
4) All These Things - Harry Connick Jr.
5) She Comes from Somewhere - Chris Botti
6) Naima - John Coletrane
7) Move - Miles Davis
8) For All We Know - Rosemary Clooney
9) Pitchin' up a Boogie - Nat King Cole
10) A Nightingale Sang in Berkely Square - Everett Greene

I'm shocked that there weren't more duplicates of other artists in the ten, I have tons of Harry Connick and Nat King Cole and am getting quite a bit of Chris Botti in my collection.

Pax

Lazy Sunday IPod Random 10

Not Quite so Lazy Sunday but I have time for a playlist

1) Blue and Sentimental Cleo Laine

2) Bad Moon Rising Credence Clearwater Revival

3) Babe Styx

4) The Long Run The Eagles

5) Let's Just Get Naked Joan Osborne

6) After This Day is Gone Bryan Duncan

7) Time in a Bottle Jim Croce

8) Will You Still Love Me Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

9) Ain't it Good Salvadore

10) More Than Love Los Lonely Boys

Psychologically speaking this one is really interesting. Even more so than last week's list. My IPod needs a soul mate. Yep that's the problem.

Y'all have a great Sunday. I am gonna take a quick nap and then take the kids to the Library.

Pax

Lazy Sunday Random Ten

Here is a Lazy Sunday Random Ten from my IPod Playlist


1. Come on Eileen Dexy's Midnight Runers
2. Rocky Racoon The Beatles
3. Lonely Stranger Eric Clapton
4. Do You Dream of Me Michael W. Smith
5. Dust Mites Heywood Banks
6. Late Lament The Moody Blues
7. Love's in Need of Love Today Take 6
8. Dare to be Stupid Wierd Al Yankovic
9. If I Could Give You More Harry Connick Jr.
10. My Girl Aaron Neville

Eclectic? Uhm, yeah. I am sure that some psychologist could discern volumes about my psyche from this list. I will just say I knows what I likes, and my likes change unexpectedly.

Pax

Not One of His Best Paying Gigs

What . . . would occur, hypothetically, if one of the world's great violinists had performed incognito before a traveling rush-hour audience of 1,000-odd people?
"Let's assume," Slatkin said, "that he is not recognized and just taken for granted as a street musician . . . Still, I don't think that if he's really good, he's going to go unnoticed. He'd get a larger audience in Europe . . . but, okay, out of 1,000 people, my guess is there might be 35 or 40 who will recognize the quality for what it is. Maybe 75 to 100 will stop and spend some time listening."
So, a crowd would gather?
"Oh, yes."
And how much will he make?
"About $150."
Thanks, Maestro. As it happens, this is not hypothetical. It really happened.
"How'd I do?"
We'll tell you in a minute.
"Well, who was the musician?"
Joshua Bell.
"NO!!!"



From a Washington Post Article

You read that right folks. Joshua Bell, the 39 year old Violin Virtuoso who recently won the Avery Fisher Prize, donned jeans and a sweatshirt and went into the Washington Subway last January and played his violin for the rush hour crowd.

He made the whopping sum of 32 dollars and change.

Before agreeing to the "experiment" Bell had only one stipulation and I quote from the article here to show his utter humility:

Bell had only one condition for participating. The event had been described to him as a test of whether, in an incongruous context, ordinary people would recognize genius. His condition: "I'm not comfortable if you call this genius." "Genius" is an overused word, he said: It can be applied to some of the composers whose work he plays, but not to him. His skills are largely interpretive, he said, and to imply otherwise would be unseemly and inaccurate.


He did mention that the hardest thing was the fact that when he finished each piece, no one noticed. There was no applause or recognition at all except for one woman who recognized him just at the end of his final piece.

We are huge fans of Joshua Bell in this house. His mastery of the instrument is amazing, and his range of music is so broad. He is just as comfortable playing Rachmaninoff as he is playing Irving Berlin. The Red Violin was such a beautiful movie because of his music. And if you haven't yet heard his West Side Story Suite you are in for a real treat.

I kid you not, my children will be watching very carefully all summer, just in case Joshua decides to do an impromptu concert on one of our street corners here in his hometown. We will stop, and offer him more than change.

Pax

New Dryers and Old Tunes

So I have good news and more good news today!

The good news is that the new dryer is installed and happily drying clothes as I type. It will be drying many loads of clothes to get caught up after not having a dryer for two weeks, and my only getting to the Laundromat twice to dry 10 loads. That is nothing in this family.

I couldn't convince mrangelmeg that the matching washer was a good idea, so I am still washing smaller loads than I might have been had I gotten the pair, but this will do nicely. I am so very happy to have it installed and working again that I can want what I have and not dream about what I don't.

The more good news is that I am getting an IPod for my birthday. I ordered it yesterday and it should arrive by Monday. In preparation for that happy event I have been loading all of our Cd's into ITunes so that I will be ready to download all of my music (and some of mrangelmeg's) just as soon as it gets out of the box and I can get it up and running.

I am so excited about this. especially because the weather is getting nicer and I plan to start walking outside and maybe even getting my old bike serviced and taking it out on a few of the bike trails (we have some wonderful bike trails that are nicely paved and very safe for the novice biker here in town.)

So, my day has just been packed, to say the least.

Pax