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June 30, 2008

ALF Lives On!

That's right...ALF is online at hulu.com! You can go there and watch any episode you want to see. When I was a kid I loved ALF and still think he's a pretty funny guy, or alien. I just watched an episode last night and that Tanner family is really annoying...I don't remember that from way back when...

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 10:12 AM | Comments (4)

June 29, 2008

Sin, Faith, and a Wedding!

I went to a wedding on Friday for two good friends of mine, Nathaniel Thompson and Suzy Norcliffe, who's last name is now ironically, Thompson as well. OK, so they're married to each other...but you get the point. I don't know what it was about this particular wedding, but I was rejuvenated with the Gospel through the ceremony. It was very encouraging to hear Revelation 21:1-5 and to think about the New Jerusalem coming to earth, to think of living in a New World where relationships will be good and death will not be upon us. How encouraging to have hope in a world where disaster and suffering is the feature every night on the news.
I was reminded of my need for Christ. To focus on the good of Christ and the many blessings we receive from the Lord is natural, but to only go there and not to our own reality as sinners is bad for our dependence on Him. What I am saying is that we must be aware of our fallenness, our sin, and our tendency to walk away from Him. To pray for our sin to be revealed to us is good, when we recognize this, we are able to come to the Father more humbly and thus see a striking need for a Savior.
I'm reminded of "Christina's World," by Andrew Wyeth. We often run astray, and want to do our own thing. However, we can always go back home. This might not be the interpretation of Wyeth, but, I like the peacefulness of the painting, and the possibility of looking back with comfort.

That being said, since we've been saved by Someone who offers peace and who's beauty is so evident in our lives, and who's hope is refreshing in what can be a dry world, let's go back.

Here's a song sung at the wedding:
Faint were we, and fears possessed us
Bruised were we from many falls
Hope was gone and shame distressed us
But His love would pardon all
We were lost when Jesus Found us
Found the sheep that went astray
Raised us up, broke and bound us
Taught our hears to know His way

We will sing (bathed in His riches)
We will sing (of the love He spoke in blood)
We will sing (We are held by His promise)
We are carried by the faithfulness of our God
by: Nathan Partain

To realize how incredible He is, we must realize how polluted with sin we are. However, with this stark realization comes faith...and with it, hope.

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)

White AND Square, What a Concept

Contemporary art seems pretty stupid sometimes doesn't it. However, sometimes it's in the abstract, or in this case, the minimilism, that we can see a point being made before us. It was in Picasso's exaggerated lines that we saw desperation or anger, in Dali's work we saw a man observant of the violent nationalism of Spain, with Duchamp we are able to ask the question, "What is art and what is not art?" It seems that Robert Ryman might challenge that same debate some 60 years after the first urinal was purchased...but unintentionally. Ryman's "Midland," which was created the year I was born, 1976, seems pretty absent of anything creative or artistic. At first glance it's just a board painted white. Wow! That's interesting, right? Welp, it's actually an aluminum sheet to which white paint has been applied to it using a brush. I know, I'm not helping any am I. What was Robert Ryman trying to say with this piece of artwork? I wonder. He believed that much could be said without abstract expressionism. Thus, no weirdness, (other than the fact that it's a white square I mean). I believe he was encouraging people to think about the actual process of making art. He wanted to think about the various ways of using a brush, and daringly enough, he wanted to use the color white, or shade depending on who you talk to. At this point in his career he was also concerned with the way it fit into what was going on around it, such as the wall, the lighting, and the elements that go with the artwork.
I tend to be an appreciator of art that is obvious, or loud, or entertaining. Why else would I enjoy Gaudi so much? However, if I just take a second to think about the artist and the context of how and why the painting was made...there might be more to it. Could a painted white square be stupid? I don't think so...

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 6:29 PM | Comments (0)

Spain Wins Euro Cup 2008!

O-WAY...O-WAY...O-WAY, O-WAY, O-WAY!!! Spain gano la Copa del Europa! It's been 44 years since they've held the most coveted trophy among European national soccer teams! The fight to the title was led by star players, such as: David Villa, Iker Casillas, Marcos Senna and Cesc Fàbregas, but it was Fernando Torres who scored the winning goal in the final game against Germany.

Their first fight was against Russia, which led to a 4-1 victory...and they kept fightin' until the last minute against Germany. Knowing how much Spaniards love their soccer, or futbol, as it's called in Spain, I'm sure the streets were full of fans shouting out cheers, sporting their bufandas, and gathering in their appropriate plazas where everyone goes for victories such as this one. I would have loved to have been in Zaragoza...I would have gone down to the Plaza de Espana to gather around the fountain! I'm sure everyone was drinking calimochos and cervezas and that it was a wild party!

Felicidades amigos!

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 6:03 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

Radiohead Live = Magic

I went to the Radiohead show a few weeks ago. It was incredible. The weather was mild temps with low humidity and a clear blue sky. I was in the middle a sea of people who had all arrived with much excitement ready to hear from the greatest band in the world. The show was sold out, and we were all feeling good about grabbing tickets to the must-see show of the summer. I say all the time after I go to see a favorite band, "that was one of the best concerts I've ever been to." But this time I meant it. From beginning to end Thom Yorke and the boys brought it. They opened with a performance of "All I Need" and followed with many songs from their critically acclaimed cd, In Rainbows and many fan favorites, including "Fake Plastic Trees," "Paranoid Android," and more. The light show that bounced off long pieces of metal which dangled behind the band were inventive and almost mesmorizing. The fact that I had to sit in my car for over two hours before I was even able to leave my parking place didn't matter because I was so giddy. In fact, the band was so good that it prompted me to ask the question, "When Thom Yorke wakes up in the morning...does he ever open his eyes and think to himself, "Oh my Gosh, I'M IN RADIOHEAD!!!"?

Here's the set list from St. Louis:

"All I Need"
"Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
"Airbag"
"15 Step"
"Nude"
"Kid A"
"Weird Fishes"/ "Arpeggi"
"The Gloaming"
"You & Whose Army?"
"Idioteque"
"Faust Arp"
"Videotape"
"Everything in Its Right Place"
"Reckoner"
"Optimistic"
"Bangers 'N Mash"
"Bodysnatchers"

Encore
"Exit Music (for a Film)"
"Myxomatosis"
"My Iron Lung"
"There There"
Fake Plastic Trees"

Second encore

"Pyramid Song"
"House of Cards"/"No Surprises"
"Paranoid Android"

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 10:29 PM | Comments (2)

June 24, 2008

The Dark Knight Returns!

The new Batman comes out the day before my birthday! Good timing!
That would be July 18th!

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 11:09 PM | Comments (3)

Lately, What's Been Going On...

Hey everybody! How's it going? Good. Anyway, it's been a while. I think I'm burned out on anything that has to do with a computer, seeing as how I work on resumes and scour the internet for jobs. It's so fun...you'd think I'd want to do it a lot more, but no. I have also been busy catching up on Lost...the best tv show today. How can a show be extremely artful, frustrating and entertaining at the same time? I mean really, who the hell is Jeremy Pivins? I mean, Jeremy Bentham? Well OK, I know who he is...but who is he? If you watch Lost, then you know what I'm talking about. I made the mistake of going to see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Aliens, or whatever it's called. Oh, and did you hear? Entertainment Weekly did their list of the 'new classics' from the past 25 years? Of the top 100 tv shows...Buffy the Vampire Slayer was #10. That's right...just after Friends in the #9 spot. Coldplay's new album, Viva la Vida, has like, 3 good songs on it. At first I thought it was really majestic like Joshua Tree, but after listening for a while...it's a little bit better than OK, with the exception of those 3 songs. This past weekend the Cards took down the Red Sox, a team that I hate almost as much as the Yankees! That was a positive, seeing as how the Red Birds have lost most of their tried and true players and lost and then regained some of their worst players...I won't mention any names, but they may have played in both MLB and the minor leagues and then in the MLB again. Finally, my church just opened a performance art venue called originally enough, 'The Chapel.' We had an older chapel in the back of our church that was used rarely...so, one of our pastors and some other people had the vision a few years ago to create something with the space where we could honor God's gifts through music, performance, and art. We raised money and made it happen...just like Mariah Carey sings in one of her songs from the mid-90s, "If you believe in yourself and know what you want, you're gonna make it happen." Well, we actually give the credit to God and His faithfulness for seeing us through the process, but you get the idea. We had our grand opening a few weeks ago and it went really well. We see this as an opportunity to celebrate what God is doing in the city through artists. The bands/artists like the situation because with every cover charge they make 100% of the revenue earned, which comes with free drinks for each person that comes in. It's been very positive and it looks like we're doing what was planned out. Here's some pictures...

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 10:27 PM | Comments (4)

June 5, 2008

10 Movies to See this Summer

Nope, this list doesn't include any comic book characters, nor does it include sexy, city girls, not even animated talking animals. This is a list of movies I've always wanted to see, but haven't.

1. Junebug
2. The Squid and the Whale
3. Grizzly Man
4. Ed Wood
5. A River Runs Through It
6. The Butterfly
7. Quiz Show
8. Taxi Driver
9. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
10. Fargo

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 6:31 PM | Comments (4)

Steamy, Yet, Punky

I remember last year writing a post about how people are finding new ways to look into the past and to be a part of what has come before us...I present exhibit A: Steampunk. They find ways to make everything brassy and glassy and old. It reminds me of when movies were first being made, such as From the Earth to the Moon. They're taking new items, such as computers, and placing materials over them to make it look like the inherited the item from Abraham Lincoln. It's not my personal style, but I like it none-the-less.

Posted by Nathan Gemayel at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)