Pentecostal Power

Tens of thousands of Christians from around the world have flooded into Los Angeles to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Azusa Street revivals, a series of prayer meetings that helped launch the modern Pentecostal movement. Until about two years ago, I knew virtually nothing about this Catholic based faith. As I've written several times before, I am a huge fan of Joel Osteen, the young charismatic orator at Lakewood Church. He too is a Pentecostal. No, not the speaking in tongues fanatic type, nor does he part take in the stereotypical touch on the head and fainting theatrics (and there are many among this sect). Amazingly enough, today, it's estimated that nearly one quarter of all the Christians in the world are part of the Pentecostal movement, which emphasizes the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostal talk about what Jesus does for them, they talk about how he can bless them. It's clear that kind of message can sometimes be perverted to become a very selfish one. There is great controversy around the teaching of a prosperity gospel that says God will give health and wealth to the faithful. Rightfully so. No one wants to hear about a religion that is based on greed and self importance. This is why many Bishops and evangelicals, upon this anniversary, are gathering to discuss the need to lose that grasp of the past, address the misconceptions, and ultimately concentrate on improvements that would lead to the continuing success of their movement.

Zionists at the gate

Earlier this week, three nearly simultaneous explosions rocked the Egyptian resort city of Dahab on Monday, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 150.
Michael Scheuer, an expert on Middle East terrorism, told CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer, in commenting on the attack deployed at the height of the tourist season in Egypt, that this would seriously set back Egypts economy, as the only sources of money that Egypt has is from tourism and the billions of dollars that the US gives them to pretend that they don't hate the Israelis.
Terrorist attacks have killed nearly 100 people at several tourist resorts of Egypt's Sinai region in the past two years.

Cracks in the surface

I read some place that Pearl Jam will soon hit the road to support the forthcoming release of their self-titled 8th album. The tour's first leg will kickoff May 9th in Toronto and continue until June 3rd in NJ. This got me thinking. Will little Eddie Mueller (bet you didn't know that was Mister Vedders real name...thank you Rolling Stone for revealing that little nugget so many years ago...I am still laughing) and company be capable of keeping up their energy levels for the duration? After catching the brothers grunge performance on SNL a few weeks back, it seriously begged the question. I must say, Eddie still provides on many levels, the essentials visually speaking, though he's clearly looking a little older in the face (aren't we all). This aside, the strains and pains that were being emitted from his face and voice whilst singing had me wincing with every passing lyric from his lips. The boy has pipes (no, not in the same manner as his friend Chris Cornell), but it was, nonetheless, painful to watch. The boys don't move like they used to either and the requisite jumping up and down with guitar in hand and runners on feet just didn't look quite right. The spring in their step has now been reduced to a charlie-horse in the leg. The music itself was pitiful, I couldn't listen at all. The new album has 13 songs, which makes me very weary. I've always thought of Eddie's voice as memorably muscular and the groups songwriting consistently strong, creating songs with big echoey sounds. They always gave impassioned performances and if Ten were the only album they'd ever made or sang live, I'd still be satisfied. Some prefer to think of them as legends of the alternative grunge scene and I am inclined to leave it that way.

Jesus Quarterly

It's Easter Sunday, the papers and the airwaves are filled with images of Jesus.
I turn on the tv and there before me, is Jesus Christ Superstar, the smash musical from 1973. At the time, I was only 8 years old, so I didn't really pay that close attention to it or it's lead. Now that I am grown, I can take a moment to make an observation or ask a question or two. In this version, Jesus is characterized as a stunning but discontented hippie, prone to strong emotions and outbursts of passion. In Gibson's Passion, our Jesus was above average in looks with piercing blue eyes and a shock of black hair, a toned carpenters body, wreaking of masculinity and power.
It occurred to me the other day that every portrayal we have ever seen, whether in print, stained glass or film, Jesus is always viewed as "hot". Why? Is there any proof of this in the bible? (Old or New Testament) Was he really that good looking? Is this a ridiculous question? Are we once again putting too much emphasis on looks? Is this what influences people over words? I did some checking and here's what I found:
Our earliest written source, the New Testament, tells us nothing about Jesus' appearance: It never mentions the color of Jesus' eyes, the length of his hair or his beard, his height, his weight or any other physical attribute. So some early Christians turned to the Old Testament to find clues to how the messiah should look. The contrasting descriptions they found might be the source for the belief that Jesus should be depicted two distinct ways. The second-century church fathers Justin Martyr and Origen point to Isaiah 53 as evidence that Jesus was unattractive: "He [the messiah] has no form nor glory, nor beauty when we beheld him, but his appearance was without honor and inferior to that of the sons of men." At the same time, Origen and others cite the portrayal of God in Psalm 45 as testimony that Jesus was the "most handsome of men" (Psalm 45:2).Additionally: He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Isaiah 53:2 (New International Version)
I look at it this way, it's possible that it's easier to believe that Jesus was above average in looks and this is what endeared him to his followers. It's widely agreed that attractive people have a broader influence on society. Christian artists appropriated pagan figure types (Gods)in their portayals of Jesus, therefore transforming their meaning and how we have come to view him. In his beardless portraits (this is not widely how we see him), Jesus bears a striking physical resemblance to certain junior or transitional pagan gods, including Apollo, Dionysus, Hercules, the sons of Jupiter and other semi-divine heroes who are associated with working wonders, shepherding souls through the underworld, bringing light from the darkness, being born through miraculous or divine conception, or dying and then rising again. The resemblance is so strong that art historians have at times been unsure whether an image depicts Jesus or a pagan deity.
So, in image and text we find two contrasting images of Jesus: youthful/mature and handsome/ugly. But what do they mean?
One possibility, as art historian Thomas Mathews of New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, puts it, is that the two images show Jesus as winner in a clash between the pagan and Christian gods. By subsuming the attributes of the young and old pagan gods, Jesus triumphs over both. He is everything they are, but more and all rolled into one divine being. Therefore, the art presents Jesus as both Jupiter and Apollo, both Serapis and Dionysus and greater than them all.
Augustine suggested a second possibility, that everyone has a different image of Jesus. He wrote: The physical face of the Lord is pictured with infinite variety by countless imaginations, though whatever it was like he certainly had only one. Nor as regards the faith we have in the Lord Jesus Christ is it in the least relevant to salvation what our imaginations picture him like. What does matter is that we think of him as a man.
Perhaps it's true then, people saw in him exactly what they wanted to, in that, he represented everything they were not and therefore, his word had greater influence over them. Afterall, he brought salvation and healing into peoples lives. Was it the color of his eyes that accomplished this? Could it have been the muscles in his arms? The tan of his skin? His chiseled features? Were his disciples so drawn to him simply because of his gaze? Perhaps for all of these reasons, perhaps none. If thinking of him as good looking helps, then I am all for it. Afterall, if we were to be repulsed by the divine, that would be the perfect definition of irony.

The great escape

If you ever needed solid proof that heaven exists on earth, you need look no further than Gorillaz.
I have watched, a record number of times now, the Demon Days Live DVD and I simply can't get enough. As you all know from reading my many praises for this ensemble project, it really doesn't get any better than this. Their performance at the Manchester Opera House can only be described in one way: awe inspiring.
Every song is exploited in the best possible sense of the word. The visual effects that accompany every track are works of art and if ever there was an album that sounded better live, it's this one. The cast of guest singers and performers are a sight to behold and a treat for the ears. Stand out moments are brought to us by the kids choir from Parkland & Newall Green School's of Manchester with their expert funky rendition of Dirty Harry and by far, the best part of the evening is when the gospel choir from Manchester sing Don't get lost in heaven. Oh! but you will! And, close to the end of the evenings performance, Damon finally comes out of the dark and accompanies the brilliant chinese zither player, Zeng-Zhen to sing the beautiful Hong Kong.
With that, you'll have to excuse me whilst I go watch it again...

Crushing perspective

In discussing the devastating earthquake in Kashmir, privatisation Minister Altaf Saleem has stated the following:
There is a unique opportunity to rebuild a region and improve standards of living within the area. Six thousand schools need to be rebuilt. Eight hundred medical facilities, including basic health units, bigger hospitals and there are two universities that need rebuilding. A lot of money will also go to the transportation sector. We have to rebuild some bridges, some roads and some water works. In all of this, you have to realize that this infrastructure was built in some 58 year time frame and collapsed in something like 58 seconds and people expect that it would all be rebuilt in 58 days! It has to take longer.
This statement smacks so harshly of sobering perspective that suddenly, any problem that I thought was insurmountable, well, you know...

Cut of the jib

Top Gear was in fine form this weekend.
In reviewing Honda's answer to a mini four by four, the Element (which is currently not available for sale in the UK, because, apparently, the UK has more than enough good cars to choose from), our host, the brilliant James May, dubbed this vehicle in the exact same manner as me, it's a love child of the Range Rover and a Nike trainer (running shoe).
So, to get a true opinion, James decides to take it to a place for a tough test, as Honda's, by and large, aren't considered very cool within the UK and the average age of a Honda driver is well (as he hesitates) OLD!.
He takes the Element to the British epicenter of old, in Eastbourne to the Guildredge Park Bowling Club, which was founded in 1920 by Sir Frances Drake.
Most of it's members do actually drive Honda's and he wanted to see if they'd deem this thing "cool" or "uncool" (secretly he wanted them to hate the thing, therefore making it perfectly salable within the UK).
After several observations and comments were given on the over all look and feel of the vehicle, he chimes in with this prize winner:
Moment of truth: would the Element be a car for the people who like hip-hop or for people waiting for a hip-op?
The consensus was a resounding: yes. It was official, it's a COOL HONDA!

Picadilly Palare

It's been precisely 24 years since I was introduced to Steven Patrick Morrissey.
I remember it so clearly, as I thought my heart would explode when I first heard his lovelorn voice between my ears. Fast forward to 2006 and we still have the supreme pleasure of listening to a now noted god-father of alternative rock. I love the idea that he's still singing with the same level of torment and despair he did all those years ago. His latest offering is Ringleader of the Tormentors. Eight albums into his renaissance and we find our Moz still at the top of his lyrical game. Fittingly, this entire cd is much more orchestral than past projects. The second track: Dear God, Please Help Me is totally self pitying. The albums centerpiece, Life is a Pigsty (which no doubt mirrors quite aptly how our orator really feels about the state of being), begins with obvious reminders of How Soon Is Now, when it sooner rather than later, plummets into a spellbinding Prozac-comedown to the orchestra pit, with bruises as evidence. This time round, the emotions feel that much rawer. This likely speaks to his recent experiences in both love and life (we'll never really know from where he draws his inspirations). Here we have a showcase of a more familiar Morrissey turf, laid out within the titles themselves. In my mind, he will be forever thought of as the master of the once-heard-never-forgotten persuasion. If ever there was a writer who managed to sing his life, while remaining resolutely out of reach, it is Morrissey. You Have Killed Me adds new layers of both clarity and opacity to that particular glass onion. Perfectly fitting.

Morons at the gate

A mobile phone salesman was hauled off a plane and questioned for three hours as a terror suspect - because he listened to songs by The Clash and Led Zeppelin.
Harraj Mann, 24, played the punk anthem London Calling and classic rock track Immigrant Song in a taxi before a flight to London. The lyrics to both tracks made the driver fear his passenger was a terrorist.
The words of the Clash track begin: "London calling to the faraway towns, now war is declared and battle come down." And Led Zep's Immigrant Song goes: "The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands, to fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!"
He said he was told he was being questioned under the Terrorism Act and his choice of music had aroused suspicions. He was 'frog-marched off the plane in front of everyone, had his bags searched and was asked 'every question you can think of'.
What the feck is wrong with people?

Faithful Minions

From the offical Demon Days Live press release:

All tickets for all five nights of Gorillaz in NYC: Demon Days Live at the Apollo sold out in less than an hour Friday morning!!!
Following a rapturously received run at the Manchester Opera House last November ( truly unbelievable, buy it, now!), the musical collaborators behind the Grammy-winning Gorillaz' album Demon Days will reconvene at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater for five nights April 2-6 (Now I really wish I lived there). Confirmed to join Demon Days producer/Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn at press time are De La Soul, Ike Turner, Bootie Brown of the Pharcyde, Neneh Cherry, Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder, UK rapper Roots Manuva, with others to be announced. Lucky lucky!