"Ill Fly Away" - Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (2011)

I first posted this a few years ago. It's such a beautiful performance of the old standard that it deserves to be posted again. I listen to this one often in the car. Sue will have to tell you about me driving over the mountains one foggy and rainy night, singing this song and trusting in the Lord to take us home! She made me stop and get a motel room, which only led me to question her faith; and earning me no points at all....

Gillian Welch is one of the modern gospel singers who, along with guitarist, and real life partner David Rawlings; have been keeping that good old time gospel music alive for the past decade, or so. They are part of an independent music scene that increasingly draws upon the resources of our American past, particularly the so-called Appalachian sound, borne of the poverty and hopelessness of the Great Depression.

The main thing which attracts me to this type of music is that it is easily played by just about anyone with a guitar; including me. With just a few simple chords, the amateur guitarist can soar with the angels. Watch David Rawlings on the solo and see how he is at one with his instrument. That's an old 1936 National guitar and he never plays anything else that I've seen. And his sound and approach to music are as unique as that guitar.

Music is a balm which soothes the soul. And gospel music is one of the main roots to American music in general; even being somewhat of the basis for jazz; and certainly the father of rock and roll. I like playing this song- it relieves me of my troubles and pains. Sometimes music can transport you beyond this world and all of its shortcomings, hinting at a better place. Kind of like Judy Garland and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It’s all about hope. 

"The Green Prince" - A Docudrama (2014)

In this film of the memoir by Mosab Hassan Yousef, the Palestinian son of Palestinian cleric  Sheikh Hassan Yousef ; who turned informant for Israel; screen writer Nadav Schirman brings to life one of the most unusual stories to come out of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

 Mosab Hassan Yousef and his Israeli handler Gonen Ben Yitzhak  both portray themselves in this documentary; as does the elder Sheikh Hassan Yousef. The film chronicles the struggle of the son to understand the father’s position on the dual question of a Palestinian State and Israel’s survival.

When the Intifada began Sheikh Hassan Yousef was a fierce proponent for Hamas, at the time an unknown entity in the “game” between the Israeli Shin Bet and the Palestinians. As a matter of fact that is how both Mosab Hassan Yousef and Gonen Ben Yitzhak characterize the espionage that takes place between the two powers; as a “game.”

When the younger Yousef is confronted by his father’s imprisonment he is approached by the Israeli’s to become an agent for them. His task is to infiltrate Hamas. To do this he is arrested and sent to the prison where his father is being held with other members of the group. This provides him with a “cover” as he attempts to gain entry to Hamas. There he witnesses the brutal treatment of the other Palestinians by the Hamas members; including Kangaroo courts and executions.

Seeing this violence as extortion the young man slowly begins to change his mind about the conflict and the righteousness of the “cause.” He witnesses his father’s own helplessness to stop the madness and decides to become an agent.

Ultimately he faces the supreme test when the opportunity to kill off the top leaders of Hamas and decides he cannot do it. It is only after he sees that these are the men responsible for all of the suicide bombings which lead up to 9-11 does he decide to act.

This film is a rare look at the Shin Bet and the way in which they operate. Both the spy and the spymaster present a compelling piece of the larger mosaic which is the Middle East.

"The Second Coming" by Wm. Butler Yeats (1919)

Every artist interprets events differently. In the First World War two poets went to battle. They both wrote poems which would stand the test of time. Both poems grew out of the same horrors, and yet both perceived their experiences in such different ways. Here we will examine just two; which have both become emblematic of that conflict; the War to End All Wars.

The first one is by W.B. Yeats. He wrote the classic poem “The Second Coming” while still in France in 1919. The horrors of what he has seen and experienced are compared to the end of time as envisioned in the Bible. It is a stark and dreary assessment of what man hopes for as a result of war; yet he is resigned to a fate which he hopes will bring him rebirth.

THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

This second poem is much simpler in construction, as well as message. Joyce Kilmer served with the NY Regiment in the same war. He, too came away with a sense of rebirth and a belief in a better world. But the difference in the two poems and their outlooks is astonishing. You all know this one. It’s from 1^st grade.

Trees

I think that I shall never see

a poem lovely as a tree.

 A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed

against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

and lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 A tree that may in summer wear

a nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

who intimately lives with rain.

 Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Guys Only - The Three Stooges - "They Stooge to Conga" (1943)

I’m half joking with the title “For Guys Only. But, I’m only half. Most women hate the Three Stooges. Something about eye poking and hammer hitting just rubs most women the wrong way. Occasionally you might find a woman Stooges fan; but it’s kind of like a young man looking for love at a Star Trek convention.

In this 15 minute short the boys go from fixing a doorbell to thwarting a Nazi effort at sabotage involving a U-Boat and a shore to shore radio. No one does Hitler better than Moe; and that includes Chaplin in “The Great Dictator.” I also enjoy the use of the few Yiddish words which the boys manage to slip into this one.

Filled with sight gags and verbal; as well as physical; hi-jinks, this one will have you cracking

up just as it did when you last saw it; which was probably decades ago.

"Dear White People" - A Justin Simien Film (2014)

Hold on to your sides and check your political correctness at the door for this film as Director Justin Simien kicks out the stops in this wonderful piece of satire. He also wrote this original screenplay which depicts the interaction of four black students at an Ivy League in the age of Obama. And in doing so he highlights just how far we haven’t come in feeling comfortable about the issue of race; even in 2014, when this film was released.

The film is the story of a controversy which breaks out when a black face party thrown by the white students is perceived to be racist by the African-American students. This plants seed for the whole movie; how do we deal with these divisions? Biracial student DJ Samantha White implores her white listeners to name 2 black people in their lives; not counting their “weed dealers.”

Thrown into the mix is the plight of Sam, who has finally become the first black president of his all black residential hall; only to discover that in an age of diversification it “don’t mean a thing.” The all black residence hall is on the way out. Fellow student Coco Conners has ideas for a student TV show called "Doing Time at an Ivy League."

And, as if to sum up the mis-communication between the races in this age of instant communication, a student loner named Lionel Higgins is tapped by his fellow white students  to join the school's all white newspaper to cover the controversy over the black face party. Being black automatically makes him an expert on the subject to his white peers, even though Lionel knows nothing about “Black culture”.

This film is a fast paced and funny look at how far we probably haven’t come from the days of the TV show “Julia.” Comedian Godfrey Cambridge used to joke about the fact that when that show came on the air, each time he waited for an elevator a white person would ask him if he’d seen “Julia” that week. He usually said no. One week he decided to say yes and ask which part of the show the other man liked. The response was telling. He hadn’t watched it.

"The Phantom Killer" by James Presley (2014)

This is a case which they still speak of in Texas. It has never been solved. The Phantom Killer; so dubbed by the local press in Texarkana; is America’s Jack the Ripper. We think we know who did it; but then again, we’re not quite sure. And the fascination with the case may be more entertaining than actually finding out who really did it. It’s kind of like JFK and Dallas. We want to know, but then what would we do about it?

The town of Texarkana straddles the two states of Texas and Arkansas. The old joke was that a man could stand in the center of town with his mule and claim he was in Texas while his ass was still in Arkansas. With the advent of the oil industry; and later the war; work was plentiful and Texarkana was somewhat of a boomtown. But with all of the quick money came increased crime and a transient population. 

The author; James Presley; is the nephew of Sheriff Bill Presley; who was the the chief investigator on the case and; as a trained historian with a Pulitzer Prize nomination to back him up; has taken all of the eye witness accounts and affidavits from the investigation, distilling them down to a very convincing argument as to who the Phantom was. In addition he draws upon his knowledge of the local folk lore and geography to paint a portrait of the town; as well as the effects the crimes had upon the average citizen.

Eventually, after the town has been literally terrorized as they wait for the next killings; which occur with regularity; every African-American is pulled in for questioning. Eventually, though, the leads all point to a white man named Youell Swinney and his girlfriend Peggy. But catching him proves difficult, until his alibis don’t seem to match up. And just as the noose is tightening in the case against him, he marries Peggy, thus avoiding her having to testifying against her new husband. But, still their stories don’t match the facts and the investigation continues for years.

Swinney had a rap sheet going back decades by the time he was prosecuted again in 1981 for other violent crimes. Fans of CSI will be aghast at the way the investigation was done; with officers from 2 counties trampling over evidence and not roping off crime scenes. They even allowed the public to swarm all over the terrain where the killings took place; rendering any evidence gathered useless.

In the end Swinney walked free. But he continued to have problems with the law until 1981, when he was finally convicted of larceny. This is a great insight into the way that justice has changed; along with crime detection; over the last 6 decades. It is also look at what society was like in the heady days after the end of World War Two, when life sometimes seemed more perfect than it was. And to this day no one has been proven guilty of the 5 murders that terrorized the entire town in the summer of 1946.

  

Psalm 127 - A Song of Ascents - (Solomon)

The first verse of Psalm 127 is one of the most poignant passages in Biblical literature. And, although it is taken here; out of context; the words are so beautifully positioned so as to read almost as if they were poetry; which most of the Psalms are. It is often known as the Song of Ascent. It is attributed to Solomon.

This was the quote from the Psalm which President John Kennedy had planned on using in his speech at the Trade Mart in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. He never got to make it. 

In the context of the Psalm itself; printed in its entirety below; the Psalm pays homage to the Lord; and acknowledges that everything we do comes from that deity. It also exposes our own misconception that we are in charge of anything at all. After all, when the watchmen wake it is only in response to what has already been done.

“Except Jehovah build the house,

they labor in vain that build it.

Except Jehovah keep the city,

the watchman waketh but in vain.”

The next 4 lines deal with the frivolity of trying to do it all; staying up late; lamenting your troubles. God gave us the gift of sleep, and the commandment of a Sabbath to help us cope with the craziness of living. Rather than wrap yourself only in work and self-pity, look to your family for the comfort you desire. True happiness is more likely to be found there. That guy Solomon sure was smart.

Psalm 127 King James Version (KJV)

127 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Note: The illustration of God at the top is from Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel.