Category Archives: Art, Theatre, & Film

God As A Fellow Artist

Surrealmuse takes a look at art in several different ways. Her subtitle was what really caught my attention: When the muse is alive in anyone, they become an inventive, searching, self-expressing creature.

I found this paragraph in Art & Spirituality:

I envision God as another fellow artist, the master artist with a touch of scientific knowledge, but an artist all the same. Who else but an artist would create such beautiful scenic beaches and mountains? With the same token, the dark side of God’s artistic vision is illustrated in the creation of angry, fiery volcanoes. But God also has a sense of humor, who else could create a platypus?

I thought that might get your attention. Enjoy the site, and think about how your own creativity conveys your spirituality.

Impatience of the Virtuous

The cold proceeds apace, oh joy; I’m at the hacking cough stage now. I made myself take a walk in the spring sun yesterday and stopped in at the Co-op Vert to pick up organic ginger tea and a hazelnut bread, which is so incredibly delicious that it doesn’t need butter. It has whole hazelnuts in it, and it’s made with fine whole-wheat flour and molasses. Mmm.

Rehearsal last night was absolutely disastrous. It was the diametrical opposite of the previous practice: stumbling, wincing, and amateur. On top of it all, that guy who never shuts up kept talking behind me. I thought I would strangle him. The only thing that got me through the night was knowing that when I got home, I would have chocolate ice cream and watch Angel. Except when I got home, there were two episodes of Smallville back to back, and no Angel in sight.

I went to bed and sulked.

Tonight I teach the second half of my spellcasting class. It’s certainly different this time around: I’m teaching two good Catholic girls who are interested in learning how to use magic within a Christian context. It’s quite a relief to speak in the terms of one religion while doing this class instead of saying “however you perceive the Divine” all the time. It’s also so nice to hear people say that they believe this power comes from God, and they seek to use it in a positive context. I always enjoy this class, and to be able to teach it without fielding odd questions is a lovely bonus.

I hate being sick.

Relief

Finally, a review from someone who has actually seen Mad Mad House.

Yes, I’m relieved. If the word “hokey” is used and the show compared to Abbot & Costello, then I can relax and laugh. My fears have apparently not been realised. Sure, they’re making fun of alternate lifestyles, but the show has evidently been produced with an Addams Family sort of humour.

I’ll see for myself when I settle down to watch the tape.

Coincidence?

Everyone seen the first Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban trailer? Yes?

The Wanted poster with a maniacal Sirius Black is pretty disturbing (ergo cool). I downloaded a still of it the other day for my desktop, and when I enlarged it I discovered something very interesting:

Yep. Those are Elder Futhark runes at the beginning of his serial number. Specifically Pertho (which means secrecy, hidden ancestral knowledge, and the mystery of fate), followed by Algiz (associated with protection and sanctuary).

I love my life. Possessing the knowledge that I do means that I can make the coolest connections.

Rough Seas Ahead?

Oh, dear. Oh very, very dear.

Mad, Mad House

When the proposal for this show came up last year I’d hoped it would die a quick death. Alas, it is not to be; the first episode airs this Thursday in both the US and Canada.

Kerr Cuhulain of the Officers of Avalon has issued a press release with his position which you can read here.

I tentatively agree. People already tend to give me sideways looks if they learn that I’m Pagan, let alone Wiccan. A show that emphasises the freak aspect will do not much for the seriousness with which I present my spiritual path. It’s my business, yes. But I’m really tired of the media pushing the weirdness aspect. It’s nature-based, and encompasses reverence and tolerance for pretty much everything. It emphasises self-improvement and healing.

I am rendered speechless at the publicity stunt that author and witch Fiona Horne seems to be pulling with her appearance in this show. But then — selling stuff is what publicity is about, isn’t it. It rarely has to do with truth. Granted, I haven’t seen it (and I still haven’t decided if I’ll watch the first episode or not: do I evaluate the damage, or do I boycott?), but the material I’ve read on it over the past year has done nothing to calm my dread and suspicion.

Return of the King Sweeps the Academy Awards

I rarely watch the Academy Awards; I find them overblown, boring, and a waste of time. This year, however, I watched it all, simply because I wanted to see what would happen with Return of the King nominated for so many categories.

And lo and behold, it won every single category in which it had been nominated, prompting a documentary winner to open her remarks with, “I’m glad Lord of the Rings wasn’t nominated in my category.”

For those who didn’t watch because they too consider the awards overblown, boring, and a waste of time, those eleven categories are: Makeup, Music (Score), Music (Song), Art Direction, Costume Design (yay Ngila!), Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Film Editing, Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Directing, and Best Picture. That’s a total of eleven, tied for the most awards ever won for a single picture with Ben Hur and Titanic. I don?t believe that this single picture deserved all these awards, not for a moment; I believe a lot of them were retroactive in a way, and signified an achievement for the entire trilogy.

Other awards I was happy with included Best Animated Feature going to Pixar (formerly of Disney, as Billy Crystal put it) for Finding Nemo. I wish Best Actress could have gone to Keisha Castle-Hughes for Whalerider, but it went to Charlize Theron for Monster. And since I hadn’t seen a single other film in which a nominated Best Actress had performed, I wasn’t in a position to argue.

Bits I was not happy with included one particular red carpet host, Chris Connolly, who is a perfect example of why they ought to test IQ before they let people on the air. Not only did he comment on the “epical performances” in Cold Mountain, he also later asked Jude Law what made the film “so Oscar-nominatable.”

Gods help me.

Overall, though, the production was much more tasteful than I had anticipated. The clothes were certainly better than I remember them being in past shows. The humour was there: it was a stroke of genius on the part of the producers to have Adrien Brody present the award for Best Actress, and Billy Crystal looked out over the sea of faces early in the evening to say, “Everyone in Hollywood is here tonight — it’s like the Canadian Oscars.”

For a complete listing of who won what, check out the official Oscar site.