Born Into Brothels
“The most stigmatized people in Calcutta’s red light district are not the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty, abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother’s fate or for creating another type of life.
In Born into Brothels, directors Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman chronicle the amazing transformation of the children they come to know in the red light district. Briski, a professional photographer, gives them lessons and cameras, igniting latent sparks of artistic genius that reside in these children who live in the most sordid and seemingly hopeless world.
The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something much larger, morally encouraging, and even politically volatile: art as an immensely liberating and empowering force.”
Serioulsly?
16,000 contestants. 8 finalists. 3 judges. 1 winner. GIFTED.
On January 26, 2007, on prime-time television, the first season of Gifted is televised to over 49 million households on TBN (95 million total U.S. reach). The 2-hour show hosted by Brian Littrell (formerly of the Backstreet Boys) showcases eight finalists singing some of the most well-known songs in Christian Music in styles ranging from Praise & Worship, Gospel, and CCM. The winner receives a recording contract with EMI Christian Music Group. Anticipation for the show has been enormous as the auditions were held all over the country for the past year in the most influential mega-churches in large markets.
GIFTED CD includes performances by all 8 contestants as well as the first radio single “Amazing Love (You Are My King)” sung by all the GIFTED finalists.
GIFTED resembles other popular reality-based TV shows, its unique quality is that contestants desire to display the gift that God gave them and to give back that gift by sharing with the world the message of hope in Christ.
Read More… if you can stomach it.
The Battle Of Palm City
Two of the most sarcastic, clever, powerhouses I know, are at it again. The topic? What really went down in Palm City, Florida last Saturday night. I was there, I witnessed the magic, but am fully aware that what happens in Palm City stays in Palm City. You be the judge.
“Brant was slated to merely introduce Shaun but stayed around at management’s request so the large crowd wouldn’t follow the radio celeb out the door to Old Navy’s sleeveless shirt sale down the street and then to his pretend church. Shaun was grateful. Until Brant led the throngs of faithful WAY-FM listeners in pogo-ing to Abba Father…” – Shaun Groves
“Longtime fans appreciated his turn at Calvary Chapel’s grand piano, where Groves fought back tears in an airy, aching, “When We Love the Least/You’re a Grand Old Flag” fusion. Groves followed up with new songs, including the ska-tinged, “Big, Big House (Not Sure Why We Bought It)”, an anthemic tribute to Stanley Hauerwas, “Hook, Line, and Sinker”, and then the thoughtful, reflective cri de coeur, “Taller Than You (Way Taller)”.” – Brant Hansen
"Those California Kooks"
SACRAMENTO – The issue is pretty simple: Lieber wants to make spanking children age 3 and under a misdemeanor. Offenders could face up to a year in jail or up to a $1,000 fine, though first-time violators would probably only have to attend parenting classes.
Lieber has yet to even introduce a bill, but the mere description of her idea in a Mercury News article this week triggered a hailstorm of reaction — most of it negative, some of it viciously personal. The story appeared to break a Mercury News record for most online feedback — as of Friday afternoon, it had elicited 86 pages of reader comments, along with many, many dozens of e-mails. Some defended spanking; many others said the government has no business telling them how to raise their kids.
“Unreal,” “absurd,” and “idiotic” were some of the gentler adjectives readers used.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fed the spanking frenzy on Thursday when, responding to questions from the Mercury News, he said he “got smacked about everything” as a child in Austria but has never hit his own kids. Schwarzenegger had doubts about how a spanking ban would be enforced but said Lieber’s idea seems well-intentioned.
Friday afternoon, Lieber was holed up in her office in Mountain View after returning from an interview on CNN. A crew from Good Morning America was camped out in her lobby for hours, waiting to get her on camera. “I’m under siege,” Lieber said, only half-joking.
Much of the media coverage of her bill has been snide or dismissive — with a decided “there go those California kooks again” tone. Still, Lieber said her proposal is getting the kind of public hearing she could have only dreamed of.
I’m Still Trying To Figure This One Out
A friend of mine started a new blog, and I have no idea what it is. Apparently it’s some sort of “choose your own adventure”, “make up your own story” type of blog. I think it could be a really cool idea if there is a bunch of involvement. So I’m willing to give it a shot, but some of you have to also.
And on a side note. The longest recorded name in history is Mr. Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorffwelchevoralternwarengewissen
schaftschaferswessenschafewarenwohlgepflegeundsorgfaltgkeitbes
chutzenvonangreifeudurchihrraubgierigfeindewelchevoralternzwolft
ausendjahresvorandieerscheinenerscheinenvanderersteerdemensch
derraumschiffgebrauchlichtalsseinursprungvonkraftgestartseinlan
gefahrthinzwischensternaitigraumaufdersuchenachdiesternwelchege
habtbewohnbarplanetenkreisedrehensichundwohinderneurassevonve
rstandigmenschlichkeitkonntefortpflanzenundsicherfeuenanlebenslan
glichfreudeundruhemitnicheinfurchtvorangreifenvonandererintelligent
geschopfsvonhinzwischenternart… in case you were wondering.
I Told You This Was Good
Shaun Groves – Hummingbird
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt6fe2vBke4]
And The Award Goes To…
I watched about fifteen minutes of the Golden Globes the other night. Sometimes my wife and I like to watch these things just long enough to get our sarcastic, making fun of celebrity, fix and then move on to other things.
In the fifteen minutes I watched, the award for “Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television” was being given away.
The camera scanned the room showing the four or five women that were about to win something to solidify their career, announce that they had officially “arrived” in the “made for T.V. Movie” world. All of those hard earned nights memorizing lines, and spending money to look perfect would finally pay off. I don’t remember the first three or four actresses announced, but then the camera stopped on a woman holding a half empty glass of champagne, and wearing a dress that cost more than most peoples cars. She was smiling, obviously so proud of her achievements. After all Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were at the table directly behind her.
The announcer said her name. “Sophie Okonedo – Tsunami, The Aftermath”.
Everyone clapped.
I don’t even know if she won, but I couldn’t help but think of how difficult it must have been for her to have to pretend to have her life completely devastated by a seemingly unfair act of God. What a struggle to make believe that her house was torn apart by a wave the size of a skyscraper and her family lost. I’m glad we pay such high regard for people willing to do this sort of job. How else could we see the pain and suffering in the world if it wasn’t for high priced celebrities pretending to be them? Clearly, these awards are well earned and well deserved.
It’s Better Than Hell
We had to wake up around 6:15 AM to shuttle to the airport to wait in line to drop off bags, so we could wait in line with our shoes off, to walk through radio active, possibly life shortening, metal detector things, to get to a gate, to shuttle to a different, temporary terminal building, to wait for a late flight, so we could wait in line to board a plane to sit down, only then to be asked to get off the plane, to wait in the temporary terminal building again for a different, unscheduled flight home. But from what I learned this week, it’s better than Hell.
